The Finer Things in Life
by PenguinsRFunny
Summary: Miley has left her Hannah life behind her to pursue a singing and acting career as herself.  She has landed the part of her dreams living and working with her boyfriend..in PARIS!  Will it really be a dream come true?  Jiley.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello there-**

**Here is my second attempt at fan fiction. It was so depressed after my first story not to get anymore review notices in my email that I had to write more! I hope you will enjoy it. I love getting reviews and constructive criticism so please hit the button at the end of the page and if you have a story you'd like me to read and review just let me know…it's the least I can do for those reading my stories. Anyway enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Hannah Montana…this goes for all chapters in this story so that I don't have to depress myself each time I write a new one. **

**Chapter 1- The new beginning**

Miley placed her key in the lock and opened the door slowly, peeking her head in just a bit to get the first glimpse of her new apartment. Her eyes widened in surprise. Inside was an enormous and beautifully furnished entryway and living room.

It was perfect, a blend of old world style with modern accents. There were large oversized couches of white fabric and various cool colored throw pillows scattered about. The couches were paired with exquisite antique looking chairs. Vases of fresh flowers were displayed on most surfaces in beautiful shades of green, blue, purple and white. She stopped to admire the blue hydrangeas that adorned the vase in marble entryway. She smiled to herself and laughed. She knew she would love this apartment.

The kitchen was immaculate with large marble countertops. She could picture herself sitting there enjoying her coffee or reading her new script.

She ventured into the bedroom and was again amazed by what she saw. It was astonishing. The intricate wallpaper was soft and sophisticated. The large 4 poster bed sat in the center of the room with gauzy hangings and soft white linens that looked like she could get lost in them. There was even a comfy light blue chaise in the corner for watching tv. She couldn't believe that she was here and that this would be her home for the next 6 months.

She walked back out to the sitting room to find that she already had a letter waiting for her on the coffee table. She smiled at the handwriting. It was from Lilly.

_To: My movie star best friend_

_Miley-_

_I can't believe you're going to be living in Paris for the next few months! I'm sure that I'm going to be missing you already by the time you get this. I don't know what I'm going to do with just Oliver around. Hopefully I don't kill him for leaving his socks around the bedroom. Anyway I will try and keep you updated on things that are going on here in California as often as I can. I will call and we can email as often as you like but I thought it might be nice to have an actual letter from someone who loves you when you arrive at your new apartment. I hope it makes it feel more like home. _

_Now onto my surprise. I have cleared my schedule for the month of June and am hoping to come and stay with you so that we can experience Paris together just like old times. What do you think? Oliver won't be able to get off work the entire time but is hoping to join us for the last week or two that I'll be there. Won't that be fun? A summer in Paris! I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it. Call me when you have a chance. I can't wait to hear everything about your new movie!. Don't work too hard though._

_Much Love_

_Lilly Oken_

_P.S. Say hi to Mark for me….and if he needs any help with your ring size while you're in Paris tell him to give me a call!_

Miley smiled. Lilly could make her feel happy wherever she was. It was definitely a quality she admired in her best friend. She shook her head slightly as she saw the signature. She still wasn't used to seeing Lilly sign her new name but she was really happy for the both of them. They had survived their first year of marriage relatively unscathed and the three of them were still the best of friends.

Miley re-read the post script and bit her bottom lip. Lilly had started to suggest that she and Mark start thinking of marriage a few months ago and she had to admit that the thought of coming home with an engagement ring on her finger didn't seem like such an awful thing. She was still smiling to herself already playing the scene out in her head. A romantic evening and candlelit dinner, a walk by the Eiffel tower, Mark on one knee. She was smiling broadly now swaying back and forth as she imagined them dancing together with the letter clutched against her chest.

She had met Mark over a year ago on her first movie set. She had had a small supporting role but had earned lots of praise and even a few award nominations for her portrayal. Mark was the star of the film and had helped her along in every step of the process and by the end of the film they had ended up as hollywood's newest 'it' couple. Since then they had been going strong despite often being separated from each other due to their hectic work schedules, Mark with his movies and Miley with both her new music and film career. But that was all about to change. They had both been given roles in this film and for the first time in months they would be in the same place at the same time.

Miley sighed a bit. Even though they would be in the same place they wouldn't be working together much. Mark was playing the lead again and would be portraying a young writer living and working in Paris during the elegant 1920's. Miley would be a part of the side story depicting his inspiration for his most popular novel. She would be playing a girl who comes to Paris and discovers art, music and love. And despite the fact that her character inspires Mark's he merely watches her from a distance without ever really interacting.

Even though she was disappointed that they wouldn't have any scenes together the script was amazing and Miley was more than excited to pretend to live the life of a beautiful young woman who wore nothing but stunning evening gowns, was adored by handsome young men and visited the most beautiful mansions Paris had to offer. It really was the chance of a lifetime.

She smiled to herself and started the water in the elegant bathtub with golden fixtures. The thought of living and working in Paris with the man she loved made her heart soar. She had adored the city since her Hannah Montana days when they would stop off for a day or two during her world tours. She had never gotten to really experience the city but the second she had arrived she had felt a sense of homecoming. She knew in her heart that she would love it here.

She sank into the steaming water and mountains of bubbles. Placing her head of curls against the edge of the tub she began dreaming of her knew life in the city known for love, light, and especially…. romance.

**DON'T worry Jake is coming...SOON!**

**Please Read and REVIEW!**

**Thanks for Reading**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey there-**

**Thanks for the reviews and let me say welcome back to some of my faithful readers! I am going to apologize in advance for all the descriptions and lack of dialogue but I'm not very good at dialogue and I needed to setup the story a bit. So please bear with me. Anyway…ENJOY! Don't forget to read and review!**

Miley was standing in line at the coffee cart that the movie studio had setup outside the large French mansion that would serve as the home base for most of the movie. There were hundreds of people running around getting the old home setup to shoot a major motion picture. There were guys running telephone lines out to the various trailers that they would use for rehearsals and during down time. People with extra generators, lights, sound equipment, construction equipment you name it and it was here. She smiled to herself. She had always thought that it took a lot of people to put together a concert but it was nothing compared to the Herculean effort it took to put together a movie.

It was her turn to order. "I'd like a coffee please."

The man poured her cup. "Do you take cream or sugar?"

"She likes one cream and 2 sugars." Said a voice from behind her. She spun around and smiled.

"Mark! I didn't think you were getting in until tonight!" She said giving him a big hug and quick kiss.

Mark pulled away slightly reminding her of his feelings about showing affection on the set.

Miley straightened out and controlled herself.

"We finished up early so I decided to come out a day early and check out the location." Mark said giving her a smile. He put his hand on the small of her back and led her to some tables that had been setup under the trees in the garden.

He leaned in took her hand in his covertly and whispered in her ear. "You have no idea how much I've missed you."

Miley smiled at him and began blushing. Mark always made her feel good and sophisticated. This was the first "grown up" relationship she had really had. She had dated a few guys in college but none of them were really worth sticking with.

So up until now she had only ever been in love once before. It had been young love but love nonetheless. Jake Ryan.

He had swept her off her feet in middle school and broken her heart more than once before finally getting together in High school.

After their first real breakup he had tried to learn how to be normal and although he hadn't succeeded overnight Miley had seen how much he was trying and she had agreed to help him work at it…together. They spent hours going to coffee shops and exclusive restaurants in disguise just so that Jake would have to learn to be more patient. And the more time they spent together the more they opened up to each other. And eventually Jake seemed to forget about the waiting as they both seemed to get lost in spending time with each other. Eventually they realized that the normal problem was gone and that they had fallen for each other… hard.

After that they had been inseparable for the first two years of high school.

She couldn't remember a time when she had been happier. She went to all of his premiers and he went to all of her concerts. Every few days he would find a new way to show her how much he cared about her… weather it was a note in her locker, a small gift, or a surprise picnic on her balcony she never ceased to be amazed at how much he cared. Even with hundreds of girls after him all the time he never let her believe for a second that there was anyone else because there wasn't. He loved her.

She smiled half heartedly at Mark as he was going on about his trip and the guy next to him on the plane ride.

She fondled the necklace she was wearing and was immediately returned to her memories. It was a gift from him. He had given it to her on their 1 year anniversary.

It was the most perfect day she had ever had. She had been on tour in Chicago at the time and he had surprised her by flying in for the day. Her dad had been in on it and had scheduled the day off. It was wintertime so they had bundled up and gone shopping downtown for Christmas presents. Then they were off to an amazing restaurant at the top of one of the large towers by the lake. They had a table by the window so that they could see the entire city from above and the snow lined lakefront. He had held her hand the entire night. After dinner and dessert they had gone across the street to Navy Pier where there was outdoor ice skating. Miley hadn't been very good at it having always lived in hot climates but Jake wasn't bad and he never let her go. Then just after 10:00 fireworks began to go off. Huge bursts of orange, red, yellow and gold filled the sky. They were incredible. As Jake held Miley against him from behind with her head tilted towards the sky Jake had leaned his head down towards her ear and whispered "I love you Miley Stewart" so that only she could hear it. It was the first time that he had said it directly to her and she was so happy that her eyes were starting to moisten.

It was then that he pulled a box out of his pocket and revealed the beautiful topaz pendant. He had placed it around her neck and clasped it in the back. He then took his hand to tilt her head back towards him. He had looked into her eyes and kissed her gently with the fireworks still going off behind them. It was still one of the most wonderful kisses and best days of her life.

And even though she hadn't seen Jake in almost a decade she still hardly ever took the pendant off. Just looking at it made her smile. Most people thought that she wore it because it made her blue eyes seem somehow bluer… but she knew the real reason. It reminded her of him….of love.

Before their junior year Jake's family had needed to move and although they still loved each other they knew they wouldn't be able to make a long distance relationship work while they were still in high school and still so busy with their careers. So they had broken up. They had attempted keeping in touch but it was too hard on both of them…it just made them keep hoping that something would change and they would be together.

So they had forced themselves to stop calling and now the only things she knew about him she had learned from the tabloids.

He had been ridiculously successful and had made the transition from child star to adult blockbuster effortlessly. And while most days she didn't think about him, every once in awhile there would be something that would bring him back to her thoughts, reminding her that deep down she still missed him.

She looked over at mark and tried to pull herself out of her thoughts of Jake. She reminded herself that she was a different person than she had been when she was dating Jake. At 25 years old she was changing her life and letting it settle down. She had let go of Hannah Montana and the endless tours and performances and had developed a more serious music career as herself, writing mostly soft melodic tunes.

And when she wasn't doing that she had been developing her acting. It was a new way for her to express herself and with Mark with her, showing her the way, she felt like she could conquer this too. She knew that her love for Mark was different than her love had been for Jake but as no two people are alike she felt no two loves would ever be the same. He was older and gentle and everything with him seemed to be more steady than the explosiveness that she had felt with Jake. But they had so much in common and they had grown so close working on their last film that she felt she was ready for a serious relationship with him here in Paris.

She shook her head waking from her reverie as Mark seemed to be waiting for a response from her.

"Yeah…that sounds awful." She said quietly.

Mark didn't seem to notice her lack of interest and continued making conversation.

"So…Have you seen your apartment yet?" Mark asked with a smirk.

Miley's smiled widened… she had no problem talking about her apartment. "I moved in yesterday. It's gorgeous! I love the decorating. It already feels like home."

Mark's smirk widened as he leaned in to whisper to her again. "I wouldn't get too comfortable there…I doubt you'll be spending too many evenings alone at home." He said flirtatiously.

Miley looked at the table blushing slightly. Before she could flirt back her eyes lifted. There across the grounds was the very person that had been a part of her heart since high school.

It was Jake.

**He he. And you guys were worried after that first chapter that I might have made a mistake by saying that this was a Jiley story in my summary. If you're read my first story you should realize how much I LOVE this pairing. Anyway thanks for reading! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! I'll try and update soon…especially with reviews:)**


	3. Author's Note

**A/N- Sorry Everyone. I was hoping to get the next chapter up tonight but it isn't happening. I'll be gone the rest of the week. Hopefully I'll post this weekend. Sorry once again…I've got most of it ready it's just not quite good enough. **


	4. Chapter 3

**Hey Everyone-**

**Sorry about taking so long to update. I was out of town again. Anyway I have the next chapter already to go so read and review and I'll update really soon. Enjoy!**

**Jake's POV**

His eyes shifted from the producer he had been talking to near the coffee cart. He had just been looking out over the beautiful garden surrounding the house where they would be filming when he had caught a flash of blue. His eyes caught hers.

Sheer unadulterated panic seemed to flood through him. They had both seen each other. Jake knew that running away and hiding was a somewhat childish thing to do but it was still pretty high on his list of ways to react to seeing her.

The slightly more mature part of his brain realized that he couldn't do that. It made no sense. She hadn't run away yet so neither should he. But God…What would he say to her? Should he go and talk to her? It had been so long since they'd seen each other. What was she doing here of all places? He realized that he was standing there with coffee in hand and his mouth wide open in astonishment.

Luckily or rather unluckily the man sitting next to her seemed to follow Miley's gaze and immediately got out of his seat to talk to Jake. Miley seemed to recover a few seconds later and followed him. Jake was glad they were coming to see him because he wasn't sure his legs would still support him if forced to move right now.

"Jake!" Mark said extending his hand. "It's great to finally meet you! I'm a huge fan of your work! I'm sure it will be a pleasure working with you."

Jake was still stunned. "Ummm….excuse me? What did you say?"

"I said it's going to be great getting to work with someone of your experience. I know that you and Miley here will do a fantastic job working together." Mark said putting his arm around Miley's back as she arrived next to him."

"WHAT?" Both Miley and Jake asked simultaneously staring at Mark.

Mark laughed a little. "Didn't you two know? You're going to be playing opposite each other. Your names were both on the script I was given. Wasn't it on yours?" Mark asked Miley looking down at her.

"Um…." Miley couldn't seem to speak much. She was too busy having her eyes dart back between Mark and Jake and the hem of her dress. She shook her head again. "Um…no…I…uh….didn't realize Jake was going to be in this movie….my …uh script only had character names." She got out nervously. She swallowed and tried to raise her eyes to Jake's needing to know how he was taking this. From his pale complexion he was just as shocked as she was.

His eyes moved back to her. She was looking shyly at the ground seeming uncomfortable. His mouth felt like a desert. He swallowed. "Well…um….that's a um….surprise." He said running his hand through his hair, trying not to look directly at Miley.

He had never been more uncomfortable in his life. Here he was standing feet away from the girl who had been driving him crazy from afar for the last 10 years and her pretty boy boyfriend. He secretly prayed that one of the electrical poles nearby would collapse and put him out of his misery.

"So anyway I just wanted to come over and introduce ourselves. I'm Mark Henderson I'll be playing Jacques and this is my girlfriend Miley Stewart who will be playing Marie." Mark continued seemingly oblivious to the tension between Miley and Jake.

Jake and Miley both gave out small laughs at the fact that Mark was now introducing them. They both looked at each other. Miley then turned to Mark.

"Actually Mark…uh…Jake and I went to high school together for a couple of years. We were pretty good friends"

Jake looked at Miley trying to hide the pain that the last sentence had caused him. He thought that describing their relationship as being "pretty good friends" was the understatement of the century. He had loved her with his entire heart and she knew it. Was she downplaying their relationship for Mark or did it really mean that little to her? He wasn't sure which of those two options upset him the most.

Again not picking up on any of the undertones to the conversation Mark continued. "Well Miles I'll let you and Jake catch up a bit. I have to go meet with the people in wardrobe." Mark said shaking Jake's hand and walking away.

Jake turned back to Miley and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"So we were pretty good friends in high school were we?" He said raising his voice slightly and arching his eyebrows.

Miley's awkwardness was gone as she turned defensive. "Come on Jake. How did you want me to introduce you…. 'oh by the way honey this is Jake Ryan who I dated for awhile in high school?" She said sarcastically putting her hands on her hips.

"Awhile?" Jake asked his voice raising even higher.

"Two years Miles. Three if you count the year we tried the long distance thing." Jake said making gestures with his hands.

"Jake…I didn't mean it like that at all. I just….I just didn't think it would have been good to tell Mark that the guy I'm going to be acting like I'm falling in love with for the next 6 months is someone that I actually was in love with." She said softly placing her hand on his arm.

Just hearing her say that she had loved him was enough to melt him completely. He knew she didn't mean to insult him. He just hated how much it had hurt him to hear her downplay what they had together. He felt so ashamed of himself. All the fight had left him quickly.

He took a deep breath and looked at her seriously. "God…Miles…I'm so sorry. I think…it's just you know…seeing you after so long….and then finding out we're working together…it's just a lot to take in. I didn't mean to take it out on you." He said ruffling his hands through his hair again.

She smiled back at him. "Don't worry about it…I didn't handle it well either."

She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes. "Actually. To tell you the truth when I saw you I considered running back to my trailer and hiding for awhile.'

Jake laughed for real for the first time this morning. "I wish I had thought of that….I was thinking of running all the way back to LA." He semi-joked and looked her in the eyes again.

He got caught in them. He was never able to stay mad at her when she looked at him with those eyes. He loved them too much.

"It is good to see you Miley." He said softly.

Miley blushed slightly. "You too Jake." She absentmindedly fondled the necklace around her neck that he had given her.

Jake noticed the gesture and it sparked something inside of him that he had long forgotten.

Hope.

Hope that she hadn't completely forgotten about him. He shook his head again. He couldn't be thinking like that at all. She was with someone else and he had to be happy for her.

He needed some sort of neutral territory to talk to her about. He couldn't get wound up in the past again. It was much too painful.

Looking down at the table and blushing slightly Jake continued the conversation. "I….I saw your movie. You….you were amazing." He said catching her eyes in his.

He saw her blush and look at her coffee. He loved that he could still affect her like that.

"Thanks…. I think….I think seeing how much fun you had doing movies and things when we were younger always made want to try it again." Miley told him honestly.

His whole body was relaxing to her again. He wanted to take her hand in his and just tell her that everything she did was amazing. It was just who she was. He breathed in again.

"Well I knew you could do it." He said again looking at her. When she didn't drop his gaze he coughed a bit and changed the subject.

"So…how did you find out about this role?"

Miley softened again beginning to enjoy talking with Jake again. "Actually it was kind of strange the way it happened." Jake nodded absently as he finished off the last bit of his coffee.

"The director Kevin actually called me up personally…"

At this Jake had spit the drink of coffee out across the table. Luckily none of it had landed on Miley.

"WHAT?" He asked.

"Kevin? Our DIRECTOR Kevin? He called you up and asked you to audition?" Jake asked loudly with his eyes bugging out of his head.

Miley had no idea what was going on with Jake. "Actually…. he just called me up and offered me the part. I never had to audition." Mileys said slowly with confusion written all over her face.

"And when was this?" Jake asked looking deadly serious.

'I guess it was 3 or 4 months ago. Why? What's going on Jake?" Miley asked him.

Jake just looked disgusted. He crumpled up the coffee cup in his hand in frustration.

"I can't believe he did this!" He whispered to himself.

"Did what? Jake what on earth is going on?" Miley asked now fearing that something was really really wrong.

It was as if Jake never heard her. He stood up and then looked back at Miley. "Miley can you excuse me for a second…there's someone here that I need to kill!" With that he stood up and stormed off leaving a very confused Miley Stewart looking after him.

**PLEASE REVIEW!!!! If you do I'll update really really soon!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hey Guys-**

**Thanks for all the reviews of the last chapter. They definitely made my day! Enjoy the next chapter!**

As Jake walked over to the house he put his hand to his throat to feel his pulse. Surely it wasn't possible to be beating THAT fast was it? If he had a heart attack right now he would have even more reason to Murder Kevin.

He found Cassy Kevin's assistant in the hallway. He grabbed her arm strongly. "Where is he?" Jake asked.

"Jake…Um…I think he's in the living room…they've kinda set it up as his office." Cassy said slightly shaken from Jake's behavior

Jake was off towards the living room of the large house before she finished. He found the heavy oak door that had a makeshift sign reading Kevin James on the door. He stormed through it to find Kevin and two of the assistant producers talking.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" "After EVERYTHING I've done for you…THIS is how you repay ME?" Jake yelled staring down Kevin.

Kevin looked at the two scared assistants calmly. "I think that will be all for now." He said shutting the notepad he had been writing on.

They two scurried out of the room as quickly as possible.

He walked over towards a wall that had a small bar in it. "Care for a drink…you know to take the edge off?" He asked still calm.

"DON'T you dare change the subject! How could YOU?"

Kevin sighed and put down the drink he had mixed his back still to Jake.

"I take it you either found out or met your new costar?"

"You rotten…..no good...WEASEL!" Jake yelled now pacing back and forth across the room.

"You….YOU….YOU did this on PURPOSE didn't you!" Jake asked now shaking his finger at Kevin now positively fuming.

"Of course I did this on purpose Jake!" Kevin said now raising his voice to match Jake's.

Jake was momentarily silent.

"I did this FOR YOU! You ungrateful jerk." Kevin said plopping down on the couch.

"ME? How on this EARTH is this supposed to be for ME?" Jake said standing across the coffee table looking down at Kevin.

"Because you NEED this! You needed to see her again Jake! You've been avoiding everything but work since I've met you!"

"I LIKE my work!" Jake yelled. "I don't need you to go meddling in my personal life just because you feel like it!" Jake said motioning wildly and pointing his fingers at his chest.

Kevin laughed. "WHAT personal life Jake?"

All the fight seemed to escape from Jake as he matched Kevin's stare. He deflated and sat on the chair next to the couch and put his head in his hands.

"Look Jake…." Kevin started sincerely. "We've been friends since you came to my high school. We roomed together in College. You were the best man at my wedding…and in ALL of that time I haven't seen you be even close to being serious with anyone."

"Kevin…Just because I haven't found anyone…." Jake started saying.

Kevin interrupted him. "No Jake. Don't pretend that I don't know what this is about. You might be able to spin that story to the press or your other friends… but not me. The problem is that you DID find someone….you may have been really young when it happened but you did find someone….you just… lost her."

"And since then you have turned yourself into a workaholic doing movie after movie and then going home to that enormous empty house every night. I KNOW you Jake. I KNOW you want more than that." He said sincerely handing Jake the drink that he had mixed earlier.

"I just couldn't let my best friend go on forever hiding himself away from people because he's afraid of getting his heart broken again."

Jake took the drink and looked at Kevin again saddened by the truth of what his best friend was saying.

"So…how long have you been planning this?" Jake asked the fight almost completely gone from him.

Kevin shrugged. "Honestly I didn't know that the reason that you weren't going out with anyone was still because of Miley until we saw that movie of hers last year. I saw the look on your face when you saw her on the screen and it was pretty obvious that you weren't over her…. It's been running around in my head since then."

Jake looked at Kevin with sad pleading eyes. "Why couldn't you just be like every other friend and just set me up on a series of ridiculous blind dates?"

"Well…. I considered it… but after I saw you that look on your face I knew it wouldn't do any good unless there was some sort of closure with Miley…..So….I sort of arranged it."

Jake gave a dark laugh. "You sure did…didn't you? I'm betting you're not going to let me quit this little movie version of the dating game either…are you?"

Now Kevin laughed. "Are you kidding me? I'm not stupid Jake…there is a clause in your contract giving you a substantial financial liability in case you decided to try and run. Plus you're perfect for this role."

Jake just shook his head sadly.

Kevin shrugged and smiled at Jake. "It's like you always say. If you're going to do something…do it well huh?"

Jake took the drink and gave him a death glare. "So…what exactly is your diabolical plan? Have me watch Miley and Mark be ridiculously happy for the next 6 months and be so miserable that I try and find a girlfriend?" Jake said with sarcasm.

Kevin sighed. "Jake….I don't know what's going to happen. Maybe you guys will spend some time together and realize there are still feelings there and try and work things out. Maybe…. Mark is the guy for her. I really don't know…I haven't even met the girl. The only thing I do know is that you hiding yourself from her and everyone else who might make you happy isn't working out for you. So…. either you're going to do something about it with Miley or…. realize that it's time to move on."

Jake looked over at Kevin. He knew he was right about all of it. He hadn't moved on. He had never wanted to move on. He had only wanted to love Miley for the rest of his life. He was just too afraid of getting his heart broken again to try. He put his head in his hands.

Jake sighed. "Do you think I can sue you for entrapment?" Jake asked only half joking with his head still in his hands.

Kevin looked over at his friend and smiled. " Sure….but that means I get to show Miley the video's of you drunk in college singing those Hannah Montana songs into your hairbrush."

Jake looked up with horror in his eyes. "You swore that you burned those."

Kevin smiled and got up to pat his friend on the back. "I'm only doing all this because I love you…you know that right?"

Jake gave Kevin a half hearted death glare. "How about a divorce? I want custody of the courtside Laker tickets that we have back home." Jake said still half way serious.

Kevin smiled again. "You WILL thank me!" He yelled as he walked towards the door leaving Jake slouched back against the chair, looking up at the ceiling.

Before leaving he turned around putting his hands on the door frame. "Oh and by the way Jenna wants you to come over for dinner tomorrow. You in?"

Jake sighed heavily and put his hands on his forehead. "I don't have much of a choice do I…The way you're going if I say no you might just have someone come and kidnap me and bring me anyway."

Kevin smirked. "Nice to see you're catching on. See you at dinner tomorrow."

**PLLLLEEEEAAAAASSSSEEEEE REVIEW!!!!!! **


	6. Chapter 5

**Hey Guys-**

**Sorry it took so long to update. For some reason Middle chapters are the hardest for me to write. Anyway I hope you enjoy. I know with school starting and all it's harder to have time for reading this stuff but if you do please leave a review….I really do appreciate them.**

**The dinner-**

Jake arrived at Kevin and Jenna's house just after dark. Jenna answered the door.

"JAKE!" "I'm so glad you came tonight. I've been going crazy not having anything to do but decorate the house!" She said as she gave him a hug.

Jake handed her a bottle of wonderful French wine. "This is for you. And THESE are for your so called HUSBAND." He said as he handed her a bag of black licorice, Kevin's most detested food.

Jenna looked at the bag of candy and back at Jake. "Ahhh….so you're the one he's been after huh? He's been walking around the house with a smirk for days and hasn't told me anything. What did he do this time?" She asked as she showed Jake into the house and took his jacket.

Kevin came in to join them in the living room and sat down next to his wife and smiled at Jake.

"So you haven't told your own wife your master plan to save my sorry life?" Jake said now being able to smile about the situation Kevin had weaseled him into.

Kevin just smiled back. "Well…it hasn't really gone into FULL effect yet so I wanted to wait until she could watch it happen herself."

Jake looked at him with a feeling of dread in his stomach. "What do you mean you want to wait until she can WATCH it happen?" Jake asked apprehensively.

Kevin opened his mouth to speak when the doorbell rang. Kevin's smile broadened.

Jake looked at him horrified. "You didn't."

Kevin just kept smiling. "I wonder who that could be?"

Jake looked at Jenna and poured himself a large glass of wine that was set out for them. He took a large drink then stared at Jenna. "I think I HATE your husband."

Jenna looked extremely confused.

In the corridor Jake could hear the voice that had wandered in and out of his waking on non waking dreams for years. She had laughed at something that Kevin had said and his heart ached. It was probably his favorite sound in the entire world. He took a deep breath for himself silently cursing Kevin and swearing to get back at him if it was the last thing he did. He stood up and turned to see her.

His airway closed. She was breathtaking.

She had worn dark black skinny jeans and a long form fitting baby blue sweater with an oversized neckline that showed off her perfect collar bones and silky skin. Her brown curls were brought over one shoulder in a way that was far too inviting for Jake to keep his concentration. God she was gorgeous.

Kevin walked in behind her and put hand on the small of her back.

"Jenna I want you to meet Miley Stewart. Miley this is my wife Jenna."

"It's nice to meet you" Miley said momentarily taking her eyes from Jake's to look at Jenna.

"And of course you know Jake." Kevin said with another smirk on his face.

Jake ignored Kevin's smile and gave Miley a small hug.

Miley smiled shyly. "Yeah…. I know Jake. We go way back."

For the second time in as many days Miley didn't know what to do or say around Jake. The aftershave he was wearing was enough to make her feel lightheaded. He looked amazing. He had filled out in all the right ways since high school. While he had been tall and skinny he was now tall and muscular. His new shorter hair made him look older and sophisticated but she was sure he could play the scruffy type if he wanted too (**A/N In my mind the older Jake kinda looks a lot like Michael Vartan from Alias. Great eyes, hair AND body….in other words…HOT). **Just looking into those hazel eyes had made her skin tingle in a way that it hadn't in a very long time. Miley took a deep breath and reluctantly pulled herself away from his arms.

They sat down on the couches Kevin next to Jenna and Miley next to Jake. Miley and Jake kept glancing back at each other trying to keep calm.

Luckily for the both of them Jenna seemed to notice their discomfort.

"Well Miley I hope you'll come by often. I'm usually the odd man out when Kevin and Jake here get together. It would be nice to have someone around who can put Jake in his place. You know… to even the playing field." She said with a sly smile on her face.

Miley laughed.

Miley looked back and forth between Kevin and Jake. "You two knew each other before this?" Miley said raising an eyebrow at Jake.

Before Jake could answer Kevin spoke up. "I uh…was nice enough to befriend Jake here Junior year of high school and I haven't been able to get rid of him since."

Jake gave Kevin a smirk that turned into a smile when Miley started to softly laugh besides him.

"Well I understand that one. I couldn't seem to get rid of him in high school." She said lightheartedly placing her hand on top of Jakes. The contact between their skin seemed to jolt something in Miley. She looked at Jake and caught his eyes. She started talking again as if they were the only one's in the room. "You were always following me around…asking me out." She said her eyes only seeing Jake's. It was like Kevin and Jenna didn't exist. "You were persistent weren't you?" Miley said softly still admiring Jake's hazel eyes.

Jenna had noticed the looks being given between Miley and Jake. She gave Kevin a silent questioning glance to which he nodded indicating that this was indeed THE Miley that they had heard so much about in College.

"So …Jake here wouldn't let you say no huh?" Jenna asked with a sly smirk on her face.

The outside voice seemed to shake them out of their personal connection. Miley looked away.

Jake shook his head to himself and tried to find his voice. "Um…actually….If I remember correctly she said no lots of times." "it was getting her to say yes that was difficult." He said softly catching Miley's eyes again in his.

Miley smiled shyly at Jake again remembering everything he had done to show her that he wanted to be with her.

"Well…in my own defense you never would have even noticed me if I had been like all those other girls and just thrown myself at you." Miley said raising her eyebrows and challenging Jake.

Jake smiled to himself. He and Miley had always enjoyed rubbing each other the wrong way. It had made making up even sweeter.

"Well…if it makes you feel better you keep telling yourself that. You know just as much as I did that you just enjoyed seeing me make a fool out of myself…again…and again….and again." Jake said still smiling as he took another sip of wine.

Jenna laughed. "Come on Jake…I doubt you really made a fool out of yourself."

Now it was Miley's turn to laugh. She raised her eyebrows. "Actually…you'd be surprised….he did run around Malibu in a suit of armor once trying to get me to go out with him." She said with a smile that reached her blue eyes.

Kevin seemed to perk up at this. "PLEASE tell me you have pictures." He said with his hands together pleading Miley.

She laughed. "No." "I don't have any pictures." She said kindly with laughter still in her voice.

Jenna turned and smacked Kevin across the shoulder. "Why couldn't you ever do anything that romantic?"

Kevin only responded with an "Owww." While rubbing his shoulder.

Now it was Jake's turn to laugh. "Serves you right."

Jenna seemed to take this as an opportunity to change gears. "I think before you both embarrass yourselves anymore we should have some dinner. Kevin can you help me? Oh… we're going to be eating in the atrium so you can go and make yourselves comfortable." Jenna said

With this Jake and Miley headed towards the beautiful glassed in room that seemed to bring the beauty of the outside in. There was a wooden table already dressed with linens, plates and dozens of tea light candles that put a warm glow about the room. The moon was almost full and the light lightly played upon the glasses and silverware on the table. There was even a small fire in the corner to keep them all warm. It was beautiful. The stereo was playing a soft jazzy music in the background that made Miley feel even warmer inside.

"Does this remind you of anything?" Miley asked as she tentatively approached Jake who was standing near the window looking at the moonlit garden.

Jake blushed and looked at her. "Yeah… I was just thinking it feels like it did on your birthday."

Miley had been thinking the exact same thing. The last birthday they had spent together Jake had rented out a small family owned restaurant overlooking the water. He had placed hundreds of candles all around. There had been soft music and the sound of the ocean but she could still remember how she felt that night as they watched the water splashing up onto the rocks and swayed to the music. She had thought that this was what life should feel like.

"You know…no one has ever even come close to spoiling me like you used too." She said standing next to Jake shoulder to shoulder looking out the window.

Jake looked at her seriously. He wanted to tell her what she had meant to him. He was tired of hiding himself away from everyone...especially her. "I…..I wasn't trying to spoil you." Jake said softly turning his head toward Miley.

He took a deep breath and took her hand in his.

"I think… I was just trying to show you how you made me feel." He said slightly squeezing her hand in his.

"And…. And I don't think I EVER did it justice." He said barely whispering out the last part. He locked his eyes with hers.

Something had changed between them. They both felt it.

Somehow she had closed the small distance between them and had placed her arms on top of his. His arms encircled her tiny waist bringing her closer to him. His forehead had come down to meet hers.

"I missed you terribly you know." Miley said feeling close to tears. All of the intimacy, attraction, and explosiveness was still there. All it took was being close to him and she felt whole again.

"You have no idea." He whispered out.

A clanging of dishes woke them from their haze. They brought their heads apart remaining close to each other. Kevin walked into the room carrying 3 huge platters of food.

He smiled. "So….what did I miss?"

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	7. Chapter 6

**Hey Guys-**

**First off thanks for the reviews I LOVE them. So as a bonus here's a new chapter. I wasn't planning on writing this one but it just came out. Let me know what you think! Thanks. Enjoy!!**

After Kevin had used his brilliant timing skills to announce dinner things had calmed down significantly between Jake and Miley. They barely looked at each other the first few minutes of the meal still feeling guilty about getting caught in each others arms. But as dinner went on everyone seemed to relax. Jenna had made a seafood pasta dish that literally melted in your mouth. The salad and fresh bread had also been excellent. The conversation between the 4 of them had ended up being lively and fun. They had talked about the new movie, Jake, Kevin and Jenna had shared stories about their times in College and Miley had talked to them about her latest cd and newest songs. Essentially they got along as if the 4 of them had always been friends. They had laughed and smiled the entire time. By 9:00 it was time for dessert. Jenna had gone into the huge kitchen and brought out a beautiful fruit torte and a bottle of very expensive champagne.

Jake looked at the label. "What's the occasion guys? …This is supposed to be excellent!"

Jenna looked at Kevin who just smiled at his wife.

"Well…we have a lot to celebrate tonight so we thought we should do it correctly." Kevin popped the cork and poured it into the 3 glasses in front of him. Jenna already had a glass that she had brought from the kitchen.

Kevin raised his glass. "I want to make a toast. I have been a very very lucky man so far in life and have a lot to be thankful for. First… I wanted to say thank you to my best friend Jake here for putting up with me even though _sometimes _I probably don't deserve it." Kevin said motioning his glass towards Jake

"Here here!" Jake added raising his glass.

Ignoring Jake Kevin continued "I ALSO wanted to thank Miley for joining us tonight. You are far more wonderful than even Jake has told us and I couldn't be happier that you'll be here to spend the next six months with all of us…ESPECIALLY since it seems like you'll be an excellent source for blackmail information on Jake-o here." Kevin said with a huge smirk on his face.

Then turning to Jenna Kevin seemed to get serious. "And finally I need to thank my beautiful wife Jenna…for always being there for me when I need her. For making me smile when I can't think of anything to smile about. And finally… for being willing to put on a LOT of weight over the next few months so that Jake here will have someone to be godfather too."

Jake looked back and forth between Jenna and Kevin. "You're Kidding!" He said with his eyes bulging out and a huge smile on his face. "You're pregnant!?!"

Jenna who had been silently glowing on the other side of the table couldn't contain her smiles any longer. She looked at Jake with tears in her eyes and nodded still not being able to say anything. She just looked too happy.

Jake put his glass down and went around the table and hugged Jenna in a way that he lifted her off the floor. He kissed her firmly on the cheek and took her head in both of his hands and looked directly in her eyes. "You are going to be the BEST mom…you know that don't you."

"And you…" He said turning to Kevin. "You know this is just about the only good thing you've done in your entire life right?" Jake said putting his hand out for Kevin to shake.

Kevin laughed. "Which is exactly why we need you to be godfather. I'm going to need someone else to blame for things when I screw up."

Jake laughed and hugged his friend. In Kevin's ear he whispered "I'm honored."

Miley watched Jake and Kevin hug each other and couldn't help her heart beating faster. She knew how hard it had been for Jake to make real friends when they were younger but she had no doubt that he had found a true friend in Kevin. He might give Jake a hard time but there was probably nothing that one wouldn't do for the other. She was very happy for him.

Miley then followed Jake's lead in giving hugs to the happy couple.

Jake and Kevin had gone outside to smoke a congratulatory cigar between the two of them. When they returned Miley and Jenna were already thick as thieves talking about baby names and nursery colors.

Jake stopped cold in his tracks. He couldn't help but admire how amazing Miley and Jenna looked together. Miley looked so happy for the other woman he couldn't help but wonder what Miley would look like telling her family and friends that she was about to have a baby. The thought of how beautiful and happy she would be when that day finally came gave him goosebumps.

Shaking himself out of his reverie Jake walked to the table and picked up his champagne glass. "Alright…now it's time for a real toast." Jake said with his face serious and loving. He spoke softly with tenderness in his voice "To Jenna and Kevin. Tonight I am more in awe of you both than I have ever been before. I truly hope that someday I will be able to find someone who understands me and makes me half as happy as the two of you make each other. I can't even begin to imagine 2 people who have more love in their hearts and in their lives then you both… and your child is going to be one of the luckiest kids ever to have you as parents." Jake took a breath and looked at his two best friends since college. "I am forever grateful to be a part of your lives. Congratulations! And may all three of you be blessed with unimaginable happiness." Jake finished.

"Cheers" Miley added and they all clinked glasses.

Jenna had tears running down her face as well as a big smile. Kevin and Miley both looked misty eyed. Jenna hugged Jake and Kevin shook his hand again. Miley hugged him and whispered in his ear "You're going to be a great godfather." They broke apart still holding onto each other and looked into each others eyes. Miley couldn't help but think how good it felt to be in his arms again in the midst of a group of such loving people. She loved how none of it was forced and yet even after so little time together she felt like she could belong here.

Miley swallowed and looked down. Then turning so that she was no longer encircled by Jake Miley found her voice again. She wiped her eyes so that they were no longer teary. "So do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"

Jenna shook her head no. "We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and we might find out then but I think we're going to try and wait."

"Really? I don't think I could stand not knowing." Miley answered. "I was always the girl who would sneak around the house looking for Christmas presents in November."

Jake laughed. She had also done that for birthday presents when they were dating. Jake was very proud that she had never found any of the presents he had gotten her. He knew her well enough to predict exactly where she would look.

Jake and Kevin then decided to be uncharacteristically chivalrous and cleaned the table while the women relaxed and chatted more about the baby.

When they reached the sink with the dishes Kevin took the opportunity to talk privately to Jake.

"So….you and Miley looked pretty cozy there a few times tonight. What's going on there?" Kevin asked smirking at his best friend.

Jake just sighed. He didn't know what was going on between them at all. He was more attracted to her than he had ever been but he knew that she was dating someone else and it killed him.

"Shut up Kevin." Jake said as he started washing the dishes he had brought in.

Not one to take a hint Kevin continued. "Listen….I'm just saying…from a purely objective perspective….you may not be the only one still carrying a torch."

Jake tossed the sponge into the sink getting aggravated at being pushed and prodded about the one person he was most vulnerable about. He turned to Kevin "Well…" Jake said quietly checking the door to make sure Miley couldn't hear them. "it doesn't matter what you think, does it? It only matters what she thinks. And just because she lets me give her a hug doesn't mean she's going to ditch her moviestar boyfriend anytime soon now does it?" Jake said sadly.

Kevin looked at his best friend. He hated to see Jake unhappy. He had seen how much Jake had lit up just being in the same room with Miley. He was sure that Jake would be the happiest guy alive if he was actually allowed to be with her….to show everyone how much he loved her. Kevin sighed and spoke as honestly as he could. "All I'm saying is that maybe you should tell her how you feel." Kevin said putting his hand on Jake's shoulder.

Jake shook his head. "I'm not here to try and steal anyone's girlfriend Kevin. I'm not that guy."

"I'm not saying that you should do anything drastic…I'm just saying that maybe you BOTH deserve to know how you feel… before it's too late."

Jake didn't say anything to this but he heard every word. He hoped with all his heart it wasn't too late.

"Hey guys…" Miley said from the doorway. They turned to see her.

"Um…it's getting a bit late and I think Jenna's getting tired so I'm gonna get going." Miley said motioning towards the front door.

He thought about what Kevin had said about talking to Miley before it was too late. He didn't want to lose her again.

'umm…It's late….let me walk you back." Jake said obligingly.

Kevin raised his eyebrows at Jake but then gave him an approving nod of encouragement.

Miley turned back to Jake after putting on her coat. "Are you sure?" she asked as she walked towards the entrance to say goodbye to Jenna.

Jake watched Miley hugging Jenna and smiling in such a way that it lit up the room. "Very." he said softly under his breath before collecting himself to go and get his own coat.

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	8. Chapter 7

**Hey guys-**

**WoW Thank you all for the reviews. I know it's hard to keep up with stories during school but I will try as hard as I can as long as you keep reading and reviewing. Here's the next chapter..not my most brilliant but I blame it on middle-chapteritis. Enjoy!**

Chapter 7

The walk back to Miley's apartment was short, filled with excited talk about Jenna and Kevin and their new baby. Miley couldn't help but notice the looks and shy smiles that Jake gave her as they walked up the stairs to her apartment. She had had a great time all night and it hadn't escaped her notice that her favorite parts of the evening all had to do with Jake himself. She had loved how excited he had been for his friends. She had always loved how much heart he put into everything they had done together as a couple and she was glad that he had friends that could bring out that side of him as well.

"So…godfather…wanna come up and have some coffee? I think I'm a little too excited to get to bed just yet." Miley asked putting her keys into the large front door.

Jake smiled at the nickname "Sure…I am a bit cold at the moment and could use a little pick me up before heading the rest of the way home." He said as he pulled his collar on his wool jacket close to his neck.

Miley led him up the stairs to her not so little apartment and let him in.

"Wow. This is a great place." Jake said unbuttoning his jacket.

Miley smiled to herself. She really did love this place. "I know…they did such a beautiful job. I never knew this is what you got to come home to all those times you were off doing movies Jake…or else I would have given you a much harder time about it." Miley teased.

Jake smiled at her. "Actually I've never had a place this nice. You'll have to thank Jenna for it next time you see her. She was in charge of finding and furnishing all the actors apartments." Jake said looking around at all the modern and antique furnishings.

"You're kidding? Jenna did this? She really is amazing. Your friend Kevin is a ridiculously lucky man." She said still smiling at Jake.

Jake laughed to himself. "Yeah. He is. It only took him 2 years in college to convince her that he was good enough to take her on a date. But I guess the struggle has paid off for him." Jake finished as Miley handed him some coffee.

"So….where's Mark tonight Miles? I…uh…I was surprised to see you at Kevin's by yourself." Jake said acting casually even though his insides were turning circles.

Miley could feel the mood of the conversation changing. She and Jake had had a wonderful evening and she had purposefully put Mark out of her mind. She sipped at her coffee. 'Oh. Mark. Um…he said something about having to do a test shoot tonight at the mansion. They're supposed to be there all night."

Jake smiled to himself knowing that Kevin had control over all shoots. Jake knew he should be mad at Kevin for doing so much to get him and Miley alone but part of him wanted to hug him senseless for giving him some time to be with her on his own. He sighed to himself. He knew that Kevin wouldn't give up until Jake either told Miley how he felt of got over her. He wasn't sure which of those two things were more difficult.

"So…how are things between the two of you?" Jake asked again still trying to be casual.

Miley looked at Jake and could see through his act. She really didn't know what to tell him. Things between her and Mark were good when they were together the last time but that had been a long time ago and they hadn't really had time to get things back to 'normal.'

Miley sighed. "Things are good…I guess. Mark is really great but…we've been going out for almost a year and this is the first time we'll be in the same city at the same time. He takes his work very seriously…. which I understand because I've been there. But I don't know…maybe I've been at this too long…but… I think I'm ready for new things in my life."

Miley got up and walked towards the door leading to her balcony overlooking the city. 'I mean I don't even know Kevin and Jenna very much but I look at people like them or Lilly and Oliver and wish I had something like that…you know? Someone to share everything with…and I'm just not sure if Mark wants that too."

Jake's eyes dimmed as he heard this. H knew exactly what she was talking about. He had felt left out on so many occasions when with Kevin and Jenna that he knew he wanted to have someone to settle down with. But he knew that he wanted it with Miley…and here she was imagining the same thing…but with Mark.

Before Jake could think of what to say to her Miley continued. "I mean…I've spent so much time performing for others that I think I'm ready to put that on the back burner and start living a little more. I don't think I want to give it up completely but….I think after awhile you start to realize that if you don't have someone to share all the fame with….it's not worth as much. You know what I mean?"

Jake looked at the beautiful girl next to him and realized that he had never understood someone better than he understood Miley. In her eyes he could see everything. He could imagine a life with a beautiful house and kids exploring and sharing life together. He wanted to give her everything she had ever wanted in life. The sad part was that he knew he could. He could love her completely….if only she would let him.

"Miley…" He said coming up behind her and turning her towards him.

"I know you. If you want something in life you are the first one to have the courage to go out and take it. So if settling down and doing more normal things is what you want…you should do it. And if ….if Mark is too stupid to realize that you're offering him the best life possible then he's not worth it." Jake said passionately

Jake took a breath and lifted her head so that she looked him in the eyes. "If he can't love you that way….maybe…maybe it's better you find out now…so that you can find someone who does." Jake said softly caressing her cheek lovingly and staring into her blue eyes.

When he didn't see any signs of protesting he gathered his courage and continued. "Someone…someone who has loved you since the first time he saw you. Someone who can't imagine a life with anyone but you." He said with difficulty.

As Miley looked into his hazel green eyes there was no question what he was telling her. He still loved her.

By now Miley had tears in her eyes. She wanted to lean into him and tell him that she loved him too. She wanted to bring her lips to his and taste him again. But then she thought of all the time she had spent without Jake. She nearly didn't get over losing his love the first time he left her. She couldn't imagine trying to get over him again if lost him a second time.

She turned back to face the glass door. "Why now Jake?" She asked just above a whisper with a tear streaming down her face. "It's not like I was hiding anywhere. If…if you felt this way…why did you wait?" She asked tears still coming down her cheeks as she turned to face him.

Jake looked down in shame. He shook his head and ran his hand through his hair. "I…I honestly don't know. Breaking up with you…it…it destroyed me."

"I guess I just made myself believe that you were better off without me." He said sadly.

"And after awhile I….I was terrified to find out if I was right." Jake said putting his hand on the small of her back.

He leaned in closely placing his lips near her ear. "But I never stopped loving you. Never once." He said sadly into her ear.

Miley's eyes closed savoring the words she had longed and dreamed of hearing him say to her for so long.

Jake then moved away slightly and continued. "But…but if Mark is the one for you. You won't hear another word about this from me." "If…if you can see yourself with him forever…then you need to be with him. I need you to be happy Miley. Even….even if it's not with me." He said nearly whispering.

Miley was definitely crying now. She had never been so confused in her life. She still felt all the attraction and love that she had experienced for Jake when they were together. There was no question of that. But he had broken her heart. He had shattered her spirit and it had taken nearly 10 years to feel whole again. She couldn't let one great evening derail everything she had gained since getting over him.

"Jake….I….I don't know. You had so long….so very long to come back to me. And…you didn't."

Jake looked at Miley and saw the sadness in her eyes.

"I….I just don't know if I can get over that. I spent years getting over you. I can't let myself fall for you again just to have it end. I don't think I'd make it this time."

Jake was about to tell her that he would never do that again if he were given another chance but Miley interrupted him knowing that he would protest. "You had 10 years to come back….I'm going to need more than one day to decide if I can trust you with my heart again." She said tears still coming down your face. "I need some time. We…we need to get to know each other again without all the extra pressure of a relationship and I need to figure out how I feel about Mark."

"I need time." She said looking at his with all the honesty she had in her heart.

Jake nodded agreeing with her. He then put his hand under her chin. "I'll be here…whenever you decide. I…I just thought you should know." He said sadly but in a voice filled with love and tenderness. He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead.

Jake went and put on his coat and quietly left the apartment giving her one last glance before he left.

Looking at the white door that Jake had just walked out of Miley closed her eyes again and leaned her head back onto the door. "I never stopped loving you either." Miley said to the empty apartment as she slid down the door and put her head in her arms letting her tears overcome her.

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	9. Chapter 8

**Hey Guys- **

**Again thanks for the reviews…especially those of you who have reviewed every chapter. I am keeping this story alive for you so thank you. Again this one wasn't expected but I thought we needed to know a bit more about how Miley was feeling now. So enjoy!**

Miley spent the rest of the night on her balcony wrapped up in a comforter thinking. It was a habit that she had started as a girl and it was something that she carried on into adulthood. Something about looking up at the moonlit sky made you feel better about things.

Unfortunately for her it didn't seem to be working tonight. She could still feel the tingles on her neck near where Jake had whispered that he still loved her. She could remember how her body relaxed into his when he stood behind her. God she loved those feelings. She couldn't believe that she had gone ten years without them.

But whenever she got too lost in her feelings for Jake she would be brought back down to earth by remembering Mark. Mark was the first person that she had really cared about since Jake. He hadn't swept her off her feet as Jake had but instead their relationship had developed from a deep friendship. He had been there to talk to her when her father had remarried and when she was feeling left out with her two best friends. He had brought the excitement of romance back into her life at a point where she was considering it lost in her world. They had spent hours on and off set together going over lines, having cozy meals at romantic restaurants and just being together.

But then after their movie had finished things had been different. In the eight months since they had hardly spent more than a few weeks together at a time. They would talk on the phone every night. He would inevitably tell her that he loved and missed her and it had felt good to be those things to someone again. And after awhile it had become comfortable. Their time together would be romantic and wonderful but their time apart became normal too.

She knew this was another big difference between her feelings for Mark and her feelings for Jake. With Jake it had never been that way. When they were apart it had nearly killed her. She had felt physical pain when he first left…a pain that never really went away.

She didn't know what to do. Jake was someone that she would always love, always care about. He was her first love and they had so many special memories together it was hard to think that she could have a relationship as meaningful with someone else. But he had left her and hadn't had the courage to find her again. She couldn't survive that heart break a second time and she knew it.

And then there was Mark. He was perfect in so many ways but could she see herself with him forever as Jake said? She had thought about it….but she really didn't know if she believed it.

Sitting there on her balcony in the middle of Paris with two men who would gladly give her affection she felt more alone than she had in years. She needed someone to talk to, someone who would understand. She needed her best friend. She looked at the clock. It was almost 4:00am. It was the first time since she got to Paris that she was happy about the 9 hour time difference between Paris and California. She pulled out her new international cell phone and dialed.

"Hello?"

"Hey Lilly. It's me." Miley said softly.

"Miley? Is that you? Oh my GOD! How is PARIS! I'm sooo jealous and I can't wait to come out there soon!"

Miley loved her best friend's excitement despite her mood.

"It's….it's ….well so far it's a disaster." Miley got out.

"What? What's wrong?" Lilly asked feeling considerably concerned for her friend.

Miley could feel the tears threatening to spill out again.

"It's Jake." She said softly into the phone.

"Jake? What about Jake? Is he ok?" Lilly sounded confused and very concerned.

"No…Lilly…he's fine…but…he's here." Miley got out.

"In Paris?" Lilly said not believing what Miley was telling her.

"Yeah…he's in the movie…and….and he still loves me." Miley said letting the tears stream down her face.

"Wow. Miley. Are you…are you sure?" Lilly said softly.

Miley was nodding into the phone not being able to speak well. "Yes. I'm sure." Miley then proceeded to tell Lilly everything that had happened tonight including Jake's declarations.

"And now…I just don't know what to do." Miley finished.

Lilly had been quiet the entire time she had talked to Miley. Finally after a long silence she spoke. "Do you love him?" Lilly asked completely seriously.

Miley shook her head. "Yes. No. I….I don't know Lilly. I mean there will always be a part of me that loves Jake. But am I IN love with him? I don't know. But all the feelings…all the excitement…all the longing…it's still there." Miley said desperately into the phone.

"And what about Mark?" Lilly also asked.

"Again…I don't know. I thought I was in love with him but seeing Jake again…and having all these feeling come back. It's making me rethink that too. What on earth am I going to do?" Miley asked tears still staining her cheeks.

Lilly laughed softly. "Well..if I had two hot guys fighting over me I might just put them in a cage and watch them fight it out." She said in her serious voice to try and bring Miley out of her sadness.

"Then whoever survives gets to be with you….I think it's really the only fair thing to do." Lilly said trying to put her solution forward as a viable option.

Miley laughed. She loved how Lilly could bring her back from despair. She could always make her laugh. "Well…I have to admit…that's better than most of the options I've come up with so far." Miley acknowledged. Then trying to keep the upbeat mood of the conversation she added, "Do you think we could make it so they could only wear little loin cloths?" Miley said sniffling back the last of her tears and trying to keep from smiling.

Lilly continued still in her serious voice as if thinking very hard. "Actually… I was thinking big vats of jello…"

Miley laughed again.

"Listen." Lilly had turned serious again. "You will figure it out. You just have to follow your heart Miles."

Miley nodded again. "I know." She said knowing that she would have to do this all along.

Lilly sighed audibly on the phone. "If I can give you one serious piece of advice though…I'd say just try and make sure that you'll let your heart choose…because I think this might be the last time you get this chance." Lilly said sounding much wiser than her years.

"I know how important both of these guys are to you. So…just try not to be too afraid of love alright?" She said with a knowing voice.

Miley spoke up seriously. "I'm not afraid of love Lilly."

Miley knew that Lilly was trying to tell her something important.

"Well…I just know how hard it was when Jake left. It took you a very long time to trust anyone. I just…I just don't want you to let that fear to get in the way of you making the right decision ..you know? All of you deserve better than that." Lilly said being completely honest again.

Miley breathed deeply. She knew her friend was speaking the truth. She hadn't trusted many people with her heart since Jake left and she knew she'd need time to figure out if she could trust him again.

"I love you Lilly." Miley said.

"Love you too….and if it isn't too much trouble can you say hi to the Zombie Slayer for me?"

Miley smiled at the phone. "Alright. I'll call you in a few weeks. Goodnight."

"Night Miles."

Miley got off the balcony and walked into her bedroom. She hadn't sorted out her heart but knowing Lilly would be there for her no matter what had made her feel better. As she got under the covers of her large 4 poster bed she knew that regardless of who she chose, the next few months would change her life forever. She just hoped that she would be strong enough to make the right decision.

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	10. Chapter 9

**Hey guys-**

**Once again thanks to everyone who reviewed. I loved them! You all rock. Especially those of you faithful reviewers. Here's a new one. Hope you like it!**

Miley woke up 4 hours later with a massive headache to the sounds of Mark fiddling around in the kitchen. She groggily pulled herself out of bed.

"How is it possible that you are still perky after working all night long?" She said with her hair completely messed up sluggishly rubbing her eyeballs.

Mark looked at her sweetly. "Actually I just haven't slept yet. I figured I'd stay awake for the directors meeting this morning and then get some sleep. We're supposed to do night time shoots again tonight."

"You on the other hand look like you had one hell of a night." He said smirking as he handed her a cup of coffee over the counter.

"Did the dinner with the director and his wife really go that badly?" He asked still smiling over his cup of coffee.

"Huh? Oh. No. Dinner was fine…great actually…I guess I just couldn't sleep." Miley said trying to give as few details about her eventful night as possible.

Mark smiled at her kindly. "That's alright. I'm sure it's just leftover jet-lag. The more you work as an actor the more traveling you're going to have to do so you will probably get used to it eventually." Mark added trying to sound helpful.

Miley tried not laugh at this. Mark still didn't know about her previous life as Hannah Montana. She had once done concerts on 3 different continents in 3 days. She had grown up on planes and had NO problems adjusting to different time zones. She prided herself on it actually. "Yeah. I hope so." Miley said not making eye contact with Mark.

Miley looked at the clock. "OH MY GOD…it's already 8:30…Why didn't you tell me????" She said as she ran to her room to get ready.

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Miley and Mark arrived at the Directors meeting just a few minutes before it was set to start. Miley spotted Jake across the room chatting with Kevin. He caught her eyes and smiled. Miley couldn't help but blush. They took seats on some of the couches around the big room. Most of the other actors and crew were sitting or standing around the room. Kevin made a move to start the meeting and Jake took a seat across the room from Miley.

Jake could see that Miley looked tired. He had barely slept at all the night before going over what had happened. He wondered if she had done the same. He knew she was never very good at waking up early after late nights even though she had had lots of practice as Hannah.

Suddenly Kevin was speaking. "Alright everyone… I have our tentative shooting schedules here. We're going to have 2 shooting teams going at almost all times so make sure to check the schedules and make sure you're not supposed to be in two places at the same time."

"Also if you haven't picked up a new script in the past few days you should do so now. There have been a lot of last minute alterations."

The meeting continued in much the same way for the next hour with various announcements from the different departments. Wardrobe, makeup, props all scheduled times to meet with the various actors and rehearsal schedules were posted.

Miley checked her shooting and rehearsal schedules. It looked like she and Jake would be spending a lot of time together the next few months seeing as they had nearly all their scenes together. On the other hand she and Mark had barely any. She sighed. She wasn't sure how she was going to keep her cool around Jake when they were going to be working so closely together. And after re-reading the script she knew that they would definitely be working CLOSELY together.

People were now dispersing from the room that was serving as Kevin's office.

"So Miles…what do you have on your schedule for today?" Mark asked leaning over.

Miley checked her schedules. "It looks like I have a few fittings this afternoon and then some rehearsal. But it looks like I should be done by about 4:30….You?"

"Just the opposite….I'm off until 5:00."

Miley looked at him sweetly. "Looks like I'm on my own for dinner huh?"

Mark looked at her tenderly. "Not necessarily. You should really use this time to get more acquainted with the other cast members. Especially the one's you're going to be working with."

He looked up and surveyed who was left in the room. He spotted Jake and Kevin in the corner going over the shooting schedules. "Jake!"

Jake looked back over at them surprised. Mark waved his hand motioning for him to join them.

Miley's eyes got huge sensing what Kevin was about to do. "No.. Um…Mark. That's ok I'll be fine."

Mark smiled at her kindly. "Nonsense Miley. You two are going to have more onscreen time than anyone. You should really spend some time catching up."

Miley still tried to dissuade him. "Mark. REALLY. It's fine. I'll figure something out."

By this time Jake had come over to them looking confused and yet calm. He glanced quickly at Miley before turning his attentions to Mark.

"Yeah?" Jake asked.

"Jake. So um…I was wondering if you could help me out with something here." Mark said kindly.

"Uh…sure…no problem…what can I do for you?" Jake asked rolling his script up and placing it behind his back.

"Well…it looks like I have to shoot tonight and Miley here will be all alone. So I thought it might be a good idea if the two of you got some dinner and spent a little extra time together catching up and getting comfortable with each other again. It will be great preparation for your scenes together." Mark said with the air of a more experienced actor giving advice to the newbies.

Miley had her head in her hand due to the embarrassment she was feeling. Her cheeks were definitely flushed. She looked up to find Jake trying his best not to smirk in front of Mark.

"Oh sure…no problem. I think you're absolutely right…we should spend some time getting reacquainted…um…don't you think so Miley?" Jake finished now barely hiding his sly smile.

Miley couldn't help feeling her lips twitch into a small smile at the look on Jake's face. "Uh….yeah." She said trying to hide her smiles from Mark.

"Great!" Mark said "I'll see you later then." He said to Miley and gave her a quick kiss on the head and walked out the door.

As soon as the door closed laughter seemed to overtake Jake. Calming down slightly he turned towards Miley with a questioning look in his eyes. "Is it me or did your boyfriend just set us up….on a date?" He asked still smiling broadly with his eyebrows raised suggestively.

Miley was smiling too at the ridiculousness of what had just happened. She playfully slapped him on the arm. "Oh shut up Ryan."

Jake continued to smile at her. "I can see why you like him though….any guy who will set you up on dates when he's not around is obviously a very caring individual." Jake said in a tone of mock seriousness.

She hit him again this time slightly harder than the last. "It's not THAT funny."

Jake looked at her incredulously. "Yes. It. Is" "He obviously doesn't know about US yet?"

Miley looked at the ground sheepishly. "Well…no. It's complicated. And…Well…"

Jake was looking at her expectantly obviously enjoying the fact that she was getting flustered.

Miley noticed the smug look on his face and steeled her resolve. "Fine then….go to dinner by yourself!" She said resentfully as she started walking towards the door.

Jake quickly but tenderly took her by the wrist. "Oh come on now. You know it was funny. And…and we can't let Mark down! That's it…we wouldn't want to disappoint him. Plus…as he said…it will help with all those scenes we've got together." Jake said sarcastically still trying not to laugh.

"We'll both just have to do our best to put up with each other for one night alone." He said looking into her eyes again.

Miley could feel the joking mood change into a serious one. She felt chills along her spine as she became aware of where his hand touched her skin and felt the intensity of his gaze.

Jake took a breath getting slightly flustered by his proximity to Miley. "You know… we might not have the opportunity to spend much time together away from work…we deserve to have one night on our own…don't you think?" "Besides it was you who said that we needed to get to know each other again." Jake said sincerely still holding onto Miley's wrist.

Miley looked at him and smiled shyly. She knew the only way she would ever be able to decide between them would be to spend some more time with Jake by herself. She sighed admitting defeat. "Ok…I'll go. Pick me up at 7:00?"

Jake smiled softly and let her go knowing that he'd won the small battle.

Miley picked up her things and headed towards the door. Before leaving she turned her head. "But Jake…"

"Yeah?" He asked questioningly turning his head back towards her.

She smiled suggestively at him. "It better be good."

**PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!!!!! Please????????**


	11. Chapter 10

**Hey Guys-**

**Here's a new one. It got a bit away from me..not sure how that happened. Oh well. That's half the fun of this isn't it. Anyway thanks to all of you who keep reviewing. YOU ARE WONDERFUL! Enjoy!**

Jake liked a challenge. If Miley wanted something good. He would give her something good.

As he got ready for their date he was more excited than he had been in years. He felt like he was in high school again checking and rechecking himself in the mirror. He had put on dark slacks, a white t-shirt and form fitting navy blue zip up sweater with collar. It was casual but he knew it still fit him well. He had caught many girls admiring him in this outfit. He just hoped she would admire it as well.

Miley tried to tell herself that she wasn't getting ready for a real date. She was just going to dinner with Jake. Her friend Jake. She was trying to conveniently forget how long she had spent making sure her curls hung loose around her face just as he liked it, and that she had dabbed his favorite perfume just behind the ears. If she were being honest with herself she knew she was excited about tonight.

She smiled to herself. She knew that when she had told Jake that tonight better be good that he would do something special. She wondered if he would order the best bottle of wine with dinner…or get a violinist to come play at their table. She loved how spontaneous he could be and she couldn't wait to see if he still had it in him to be the romantic. Not that she was going to do anything. She was still with Mark…but she wasn't going to pretend that she wasn't thinking about what he had told her. He would be there for her if she wanted him….she just needed to decide if she should take it.

There was a knock on the door and she knew her heart was beating faster just knowing he was here.

She opened the door to find a very attractive Jake Ryan looking her over.

"God you're beautiful." He said honestly giving her a slight kiss on the cheek.

Miley blushed. "I bet you say that to all your costars." Miley said smiling at him slyly.

Jake smiled back. "Yep. Said it to Mark twice today." As he followed Miley down the stairs.

When they reached the street Miley looked around. "So…where are we off too Mr. Ryan?"

Jake walked up to a shiny silver vespa on the street and picked up the second helmet that was sitting on the seat. "Your chariot my lady."

Miley smiled. "You're taking me out on that?" She said looking slightly excited. She had never had a scooter ride and she had always thought they looked fun.

Jake was smiling at her as well. "Well…I figured you haven't really had anytime to see the city since you got here so I thought maybe we could take care of that little problem." He said handing her the helmet.

Miley was getting even more excited about seeing Paris. She hadn't found time to even buy a guide book yet and was dying to let the tourist inside her escape for a few hours. "Can I drive?" She said before hopping on the bike.

Jake looked back at her questioningly. "Have you ever driven a motorbike before?"

Miley looked at him sweetly and bit her bottom lip. "Well…yes…I mean…on Jackson's video games." She finished looking at him as if getting caught passing notes in school.

Jake laughed and pointed behind him. "Hop on."

Miley sighed and complied.

They took off and headed towards the center of the Paris. Miley was enjoying the ride immensely. The sun had set about a half hour before and the lights of the city were giving it a warm glow. The wind felt cold upon her face but she felt warm with her arms wrapped around Jake's body.

She had almost forgotten how much she had wanted to come and live in this city the past few days worrying about Jake and Mark but it had all flooded back to her. She loved the café lined streets and beautiful buildings. She got even more excited thinking of how much history each of the streets they drove on must have and she couldn't wait to add her story to the thousands that had already been written here.

They had driven a long way when Jake slowed and parked the scooter near the beautiful cathedral that she had only seen in books. He then got off the scooter and offered Miley his hand. Miley took it keeping her eyes up at the beautiful Notre Dame Cathedral.

"Jake…I never realized it was so BIG." She said putting her helmet on the scooter.

Jake smiled noticing the look of wonder in her eyes. Even though he had seen the Cathedral at least a dozen times before he had never enjoyed the look of it more then when standing next to Miley holding her hand.

"You want to look around for a minute? We have a little time." Jake said looking at his watch.

Miley smiled and started dragging Jake towards the building as fast as she could.

"Can you believe how beautiful it is?" She asked still unable to believe she was finally standing in front of a building she had only seen in history books.

Jake looked up at the cathedral and pointed at the beautiful round stained glass windows. "The rose window is my favorite. I just love how colorful and detailed it is."

Miley knew she didn't have to answer. She was just enjoying walking around the beautiful building holding Jake's hand. She admired everything about it. The smooth stone, the intricate sculpture on the outside, the way the lights made the structure seem even more dramatic.

Jake leaned his head towards her ear. "I know you haven't gotten to see any of Paris yet and I wanted to give you your first look of Paris the way it was meant to be seen…at night." He said as he lead her off towards the river seine that lined the edge of the Cathedral.

As they rounded the corner she saw the beautiful white boat.

She turned to him with a look of excited surprise. "What's this?"

Jake looked at her as if it was completely obvious. "The restaurant."

Jake led her to the side of the boat where he pulled a pair of tickets out of his breast pocket. A waiter dressed in a tuxedo then led them to a table for two near a large window. The table was dressed with a dark red table cloth and a bowl of flowers and floating candles. Miley couldn't stop smiling. Jake had definitely not lost his touch.

Jake was smiling broadly at her from across the table. "So…will this suffice?"

Miley smirked pretending to examine her menu. "I guess it'll do."

The food and scenery on the boat were excellent. Miley found herself torn between admiring the reflections of the city buildings on the water and the look in Jake's eyes as he told her about what he had been up to since they had seen each other. Soon it was like they had never been parted from each other.

They talked for what seemed like hours without stopping. Jake was excited to hear about everyone they had grown up with. So she told him how Lilly and Oliver had been married last year on the beach near her house. How Jackson had actually grown up and had starting to take over her dad's job as her manager. And how it was actually him that had gotten her her first audition in a movie knowing that she would be good at it even before she did. She told him why she had decided to let Hannah Montana drift away as she developed a more serious musical career for Miley.

"And that's about it." She said slightly exausted about telling Jake everything that had happened to her since they had parted in high school.

Jake gave her a skeptical look. "Well…that can't be everything. I mean…you haven't even mentioned Mark yet." He said sizing up her reaction with his eyes.

Miley jolted out of her reverie. She couldn't believe it but she had actually forgotten to talk about him. Actually she had forgotten about him all together. "Oh yeah…Mark." "He's great. I'm sure you'll love him once you get to know him." She said feeling slightly depressed about the change in subject.

"How…how about you? Has there been anyone special in your life recently?" Miley asked softly making sure to keep her eyes on his face to judge his reaction.

Jake met them evenly. "No one special."

Miley couldn't help but notice the warm feeling this put around her heart. Maybe what he had said was true. Maybe he hadn't stopped loving her.

Jake looked out the window and seemed to get excited. He offered her his hand. "Come on…we can't miss this."

Jake led her outside to the deck positioning Miley at the railing of the boat and standing behind her blocking the wind.

"Are we looking for something in particular?" Miley asked rubbing her arms to keep herself from getting too cold.

"Shh…I want this to be a surprise." Jake said putting his hands over her eyes from behind her.

After a few moments Miley started to get a little impatient "Come on Jake..it's cold…just tell me…I'm going to see it eventually." Miley said jumping up and down and still rubbing her arms but all the while not being able to contain the smiles that were infecting her face.

Jake leaned in towards her ears. "Patience Miles! Aren't you the one who used to sing about how 'sometimes good things take time?'"

Miley was still smiling with Jake's hands over her eyes. "Yes…but if you remember the rest of the song talks about how 'great things happen in the blink of an eye….'" She said with her voice trailing off as Jake removed his hands from her eyes revealing the Eiffel Towel completely lit up and glimmering in golden light.

Jake leaned in again and whispered "Surprise" into her ear.

Miley had put her hands over her mouth in awe. She hadn't been expecting it. It was so beautiful. Here she was looking at something so iconic. To her the tower was a symbol of adventure and romance just as Paris was. She knew she would always remember this as her first real glimpse of the Eiffel Tower and that she would always remember it as being absolutely perfect.

Jake couldn't help himself. He wrapped his arms around her holding her from behind. "Is it what you imagined?" He asked.

Miley had seen the Eiffel Tower when they had first arrived from the airport but it had been from very far away on a very cloudy rainy day after a VERY long day of travel. She hadn't quite thought much of it at the time. But here along the river with the reflection of the tower and the golden lights rippling in the water it was more magnificent than she could have ever imagined.

"It's beautiful." Was all she was able to get out.

She leaned back into him and they watched silently as the boat drifted along bringing better and better views. They stayed standing like that silently until the tower faded away. She knew there were other people on the boat but she didn't notice anyone else but him. He was amazing. He hadn't changed. Sure some things about him were different, the way he cut his hair, the tone of his voice but he could still give her Goosebumps with the softest of touches, and even more importantly he could still show her how much he cared about her with every gesture that he made. She knew she should feel guilty about the closeness that they were sharing, about the hand holding and standing there with their arms wrapped around each other. But she couldn't. She couldn't' bring herself to feel guilty about something that made her feel so incredibly….loved.

She had been surprised with the intimacy of the evening. After ten years she hadn't imagined how easy it would be to spend time with Jake. But it seemed as if everything they did together was natural. She could feel it in the way that they talked with each other, the way they both were finding ways to be close to the other, and the way that their eyes always seemed to lock together in a way that was different than with any other person. She couldn't deny any of it. Jake could do things to her just by smiling that she didn't feel with anyone else.

The boat was coming up to the dock again. Jake was helping her across the platform onto the ground. They joked about little things as they made their way back to the scooter.

Sooner than Miley wanted they were back at her apartment. Jake helped her off again. "Can I walk you up?" He asked…always the gentleman.

Miley smiled still holding onto his hand. "No…that's ok. It's late. I need to get back to getting some normal amounts of sleep."

Jake smiled softly to himself and sighed. "Alright…I guess…I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." He said sadly picking up his helmet and heading back towards the scooter.

Miley couldn't let him leave just yet. She needed him to know what tonight had meant to her. She put her hand on his arm. "Wait!" She said moving closer to him. "Jake….tonight was….it was…." She could feel his gaze upon her. She looked up and found his green eyes and her courage " It was absolutely amazing." She said softly glancing down at the pavement. She could feel her cheeks blushing.

Jake knew that she meant this seriously. She wasn't using her usual humor to make light of it…she really had enjoyed herself. He brought his hand up to her face and softly caressed her cheek with his thumb. "Well…I'm glad that you enjoyed it because it was pretty amazing for me too." He said with sincerity.

Miley looked into his eyes and could see him looking at her with love and longing. She could almost feel how much he wanted to kiss her. She also knew that he wouldn't. He respected her far too much to go that far. She smiled to herself as she mentally added this to the list of things she liked about Jake.

She stepped closer to him wrapping her arms around him in a hug.

Jake responded immediately. He loved how she fit perfectly in his arms.

Miley lifted her head to Jake's to give him a soft kiss on the cheek to thank him for the evening when she hesitated. She dropped her body down a little as if releasing him from the hug and tightened her arms around his neck bringing her head closer to his. She brushed her lips to his in a single excruciatingly soft kiss.

She was now breathing heavily. She slowly opened her eyes to find his eyes still closed as if still savoring the feeling of her lips on his.

She had meant it to be a short chaste kiss but even the slight contact had made her head dizzy. God how would it feel if she had given him warning and let him kiss her back? She could feel her face flush bright red. 'Um...Goodnight Jake." She said as she turned and nearly ran inside her apartment building and up the stairs. She unlocked the door and made her way to the door by the balcony overlooking the street.

Below she could still see Jake standing completely still smiling to himself running his hands through his hair as he looked at the door that Miley had exited through. She could still tell that he was blushing. After a few deep breaths he seemed to regain his faculties enough to get on his scooter. He looked back at the door that she had left through smiled again and drove away.

Miley let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. She wasn't sure what had possessed her to kiss him but she couldn't help but delight in the fact that a single kiss from her could make one of People magazine's most eligible bachelors blush.

**What'd you think? PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!!!!!!**


	12. Chapter 11

**Hey Guys- Sorry this took so long to update but I was having trouble figuring out how far I wanted to go with this one. Anyway as a consolation this is basically like 2 chapters in 1 so enjoy!**

Walking into the set the next morning Jake still couldn't wipe the smile off his face. Last night had been the best night he had experienced in years. And that kiss! God if she only knew what she did to him. He sipped his coffee placing the sunglasses he had been wearing on top of his head and scanned the room. He couldn't wait to see her again.

He had purchased a second coffee and pastries from the café near his house in hopes that she would join him for a little breakfast before rehearsals.

"Romeo! I've been looking for you…is that coffee for me?" Kevin asked making a grab for the cup in Jake's left hand. Jake spun around making sure to keep the cup just out of Kevin's reach.

"No…and don't call me romeo." Jake said with a slight laugh to his voice.

Kevin crossed his arms over his chest and smiling broadly. "Oh come on. Are you going to tell me that after going on a date last night with Miley last night and walking in here with that smile plastered on your face that nothing happened?"

Jake looked at him seriously. "How on earth did you know I went out with Miley last night. I know I'M not stupid enough to give you information like that without a death wish."

Kevin shook his head in mock sadness. "Jake. Jake. Jake. I'm a DIRECTOR. I SEE ALL. Didn't you learn anything in College?"

Jake just looked at Kevin with an expression that indicated clearly that he didn't believe a word that was coming out of Kevin's mouth.

Kevin dropped the act and put up his hands. "Ok….ok…I'll tell you for an éclair. Jenna's getting sick around any food I seem to like and it's getting violent." He said with his eyes darting around making sure they were alone. "She tried to beat me with a whisk when I went near the kitchen this morning."

"Wish I had thought of that." Jake laughed and dug into the bag he was carrying and pulled out an éclair handing it over to Kevin.

"Oh…sweet Jesus that looks good." Kevin said drooling over the pastry.

Jake laughed again at his friend again.

"Ok. Spill…I want your source. They will have to be silenced." Jake said in a mock serious tone.

Kevin was now mauling the éclair but stopped to laugh at Jake. "Actually..you're gonna have a hard time with that. It was Mark. He was bragging last night at the shoot about how he was helping Miley out professionally by helping her 'network' " Kevin said putting air quotes around the word network. "When he told me that he arranged for you and her to have dinner I nearly kissed him." Kevin said seriously.

"I mean I thought Mark was going to be a lot bigger of a roadblock to my brilliant plan…" Kevin said taking another bite of éclair.

Then with his mouth full he continued. "And then I was going to have to somehow write it into the script that his character decides to go to Antarctica or something but really…how much more helpful could he be?" Mark said seriously stuffing his mouth with the last bits of éclair.

Jake was about to tell Kevin for about the 100th time to butt out when he was interrupted.

"So who are you both sending to Antarctica?" Miley said with laughter on her voice coming up behind them smiling brightly. She quickly glanced at Jake and he smiled back at her.

"Miley! You look wonderful this morning. Did you have a good evening?" Kevin said looking pointedly at Jake as he leaned into her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Miley smiled at him brightly. "I had a great time thank you." She said sweetly. She glanced slyly at Jake.

Looking only at Miley Jake spoke. "So Kevin…don't you have work to do?"

Kevin pretended not to get Jake's not so clouded comment about disappearing. "Actually…I…"

Jake took the bag of pastries and placed it in the middle of Kevin's arms still not breaking eye contact with Miley.

"I'll be going over there." Kevin added taking his new prize to his office.

Miley laughed and then looked at Jake sorrowfully. "Please tell me that wasn't breakfast that you had to give him to leave us alone." "I'm starving!"

Jake smirked handing her the coffee he had been holding for her and shifted the messenger bag that he had been wearing around his body pulling a second bag of pastries out. "I learned very early on living with Kevin to always bring backup." "Care to join me?" He asked tilting his head towards the gardens around the large house.

Miley smiled again. "I'd love too."

They went to a table in the garden and sat down.

Miley pulled out a chocolate croissant from Jake's bag and began to eat it slowly savoring every morsel.

Jake couldn't help but watch her. After seeing the expressions on her face he laughed into his coffee. " I nearly forgot about how intimate you get with chocolate. How does Mark feel about being second in your life to a snack food?"

"First…chocolate is not a snack food. It's a delicacy. And second…I don't think he's quite realized how serious chocolate and I am." She said with a sparkle in her eye.

"How did you feel about it?" She asked still smirking at Jake.

Jake smiled. "Sharing you with candy I seemed to be ok with. Anyone else though and I started to have problems." Jake said catching her blue eyes.

Miley noticed the look of meaning in his eyes and felt heat start to surround her. She coughed slightly and took a sip of her coffee.

She had had such a wonderful time last night that she wanted to go out with Jake again. She still wasn't ready to let him in completely after so little time together but she could feel herself weakening to his presence. She also hadn't worked out her feelings for Mark but as she had promised Lilly she wasn't going to let opportunities to figure out her future pass her by.

"So Jake…have you looked at your schedule for today yet?"

Jake shrugged. "Actually I'm just here for a rehearsal this morning and then I'm free. How about you?"

"Same. So…what would you think about lunch and a little more sightseeing with me? I know that you know this city way better than I do and I'd like to not have to go alone." She said trying to maintain her cool even though she could feel butterflies taking over her heart.

Jake was trying not to get too excited. He had been trying to figure out a good way to ask her out again without seeming like he was moving in on Mark. He knew that nothing would happen between them while they were together but he didn't want to just lay everything to chance.

"Sure. That sounds great. You want to meet me here after your rehearsal?"

Miley nodded and tried to keep herself from smiling too much. "Great. I'll see you in a little while." She said as she gathered her things and headed back to the large mansion.

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A few hours later Miley met Jake in the garden.

"So Miley. What would you like to do this afternoon?" Jake asked.

Miley smiled shyly. "Well…I promised Mark that I'd see the Louvre with him but everything else is fair game!"

Jake smiled at her enthusiasm. Paris was one of his favoirite places on earth and he couldn't wait to share it with her. "Alright….I have an idea where we can have lunch and do sightseeing all at once…will that work for you?"

Miley took his hand in hers. "Lead the way. Paris awaits!"

Jake couldn't help but have his heart beat faster as she put her hand in his and headed towards the metro.

After getting off at their stop they walked quietly hand in hand soon arriving at a beautiful park. Miley couldn't believe how vast and gorgeous the place was. There was a long entryway of grass that seemed to end in what looked like a palace with a huge fountain in front that could easily be mistaken for a small lake.

"Jake…what is this place?"

Jake smiled at her. "This is one of my all time favorite places in Paris. The Luxembourg Gardens." "You like it?" He asked looking down at her.

Miley could only nod. She had never seen such a beautiful park. There were couples in the grass having picnics as she was sure they were about to do. Children were playing everywhere and people of all ages sat in chairs along the sides of the enormous areas of grass eating, talking and observing the rest of what was going on.

They bought food from a small vendor at the side of the park and found a spot to sit in the shade of a large tree to eat their lunch.

They chatted easily about their days and their friends. Miley and Jenna were already on their way to being good friends and Miley was already trying to help her out with some good baby names for her new friend.

"I think I like the name Nathan or Noah…or maybe Brady.. you know something really fun and not too dorky for a boy. What do you think?" Miley asked excitedly taking a bite of one of the crepe's that they had purchased.

Somehow the thought of Miley thinking of baby names made Jake blush slightly.

Jake pretended to think hard on the subject. "I think if it's a boy I like the name…Jake!" He exclaimed as if just thinking of it.

Miley hit him on the arm. "Jake James? I don't think so sweetheart. Plus I doubt Kevin is the sentimental type."

Jake smirked. "He may not be the sentimental type but he owes me."

Getting up off the grass he handed Miley his hand. "Care for a walk?"

Miley smiled and took his hand so that he could help her up.

They spent the next hour walking around listening to the sounds of a violinist playing at the side of the fountain.

Miley had enjoyed everything about their afternoon. She loved how slowly Jake was showing her places. They could have easily hit 2 or maybe 3 museums in the span of the afternoon but Jake had insisted that Paris was not to be rushed. It had to be soaked in. And after today Miley couldn't help but agree. It had been wonderful. She and Jake had talked with a closeness and a friendliness that she hadn't experienced in a long time. Miley delighted in pointing to things along the way and having Jake tell her the French names for them. It had become her favorite game to try and stump him.

They had laughed and smiled all afternoon enjoying watching the other people in the park and the kids playing nearby. They had also become extremely comfortable being close to one another. Jake seemed to take every opportunity to take her by the hand or put his arm around her and each time it would send exhilarating tingles to her skin. She might not remember everything about the park after today but she could never forget how it felt to have him touch her.

After running out of grass to roam in Jake had surprised her by renting her a toy wooden sailboat that Miley could sail around the enormous fountain. Their boat had a dark wood base with sky blue sails. Miley had named it the Montana 2 and had transformed into the younger version of herself sending it clearly across the water and grabbing Jakes hand and running around to catch it.

Jake loved her even more like this. Her spirit had always been the thing that had most attracted him to her. Jake stood closely by and watched as Miley started a racing rivalry with a young boy next to her. They raced their boats across the fountain a few times with the Montana 2 always coming out on top. Of course the little boy didn't take very well to losing especially to a girl and ended up sailing his boat directly into Miley's sending it severely off course.

The course correction left the boat without steam drifting a few feet from the edge of the water.

Miley was disappointed but she wouldn't give up on getting the boat back. After a lot of pleading and batting her eyelashes at Jake he had agreed to try his best to reach out into the water to retrieve the wayward boat.

Jake laid himself along the edge of the fountain reaching as far as he could over the water to reach the Montana 2. Miley herself couldn't stop laughing from the sidelines. She loved that she was standing there watching a successful film star stretching himself out over a huge fountain for a $10 boat.

Jake gave her a death glare for laughing and Miley compromised and offered him her hand as a balance so that Jake could try and stretch the few more inches it would take to get his hands on the tiny sailboat.

Jake had such a look of concentration and determination to try and get that silly boat that Miley just couldn't help herself. Maybe it was the childlike mindset of playing with the sailboat in the fountain but she found herself dropping his hand letting his head and torso fall into the water.

The second his head and torso hit the water Miley squealed and took off to the other side of the fountain. Jake had been so shocked by the drenching of the water that it had taken him a moment after he had pulled himself out to realize that she had done it on purpose.

He quickly ran after her. She screamed playfully tried to keep away from her wet attacker. Jake being much quicker soon caught up to her grabbing her around the waist spinning her around and pulling her into a big wet hug making sure that she got her fair share of fountain water. They were both laughing hysterically and smiling.

Then Miley lifted her eyes and met his. The atmosphere changed. She now could feel exactly how much of her was pressed up against him. Her hands were clenching Jake's now soaked t-shirt and sweater. His hands were against her lower back holding her close to him.

Staring into those eyes she knew she wanted him. She wanted all of her days to feel like this. She tilted her head slightly and breathlessly whispered "Jake". His actions mirrored hers. His head was getting even closer. She could feel his breath against her cheeks. She closed her eyes waiting for that beautiful moment.

"Le bateau!" "Le bateau!"

They pulled apart at the sudden sounds.

The little boy who had crashed his boat into hers was now pointing at the side of the fountain where the boat was now resting peacefully.

Jake's eyes shifted from Miley back to the boat and back again. The look of desire and longing that had filled those eyes moments ago seemed to fill with shame as he noticed how they looked to other people and what he was about to do with Miley. He detangled himself from her and looked at her with dark eyes filled with sadness for what he had almost done.

"Miles…I…I" He said looking lost and confused. Then as if something had clicked in his mind he replied.

"I can't do this anymore." He said ruffling his hands through his hair.

Miley was frightened by the change in his beautiful green eyes. They held so much sadness she wasn't sure what to do. "What do you mean Jake?" Miley asked desperately.

Jake led her to a secluded part of the garden and sat down with her.

He looked over at her. "This. Miley" He said gesturing back and forth between the two of them. "I can't do THIS."

Miley wanted to get past the awkwardness and move back to how things had been "Jake…it was an accident. I mean we just got caught up in the moment." She said trying to play off their near kiss.

Jake's eyes flared. "NO." Then realizing the tone he softened. "It wasn't an accident."

Miley looked at him with confusion all over her face.

Jake sighed and looked back at her. "Miles I have been trying very hard NOT to kiss you since the moment I saw you and I don't think it's working very well." Jake said shaking his head and looking at the ground.

"I thought I'd be able to handle this. I thought that we could spend time together and I would let you decide if you wanted me in your life on your own terms but….I just can't pretend that I don't have these feelings for you." He said desperately.

He looked at her and took her hand in his. "I have felt more alive the past few days with you then I have the past few YEARS without you. And…and these feelings." He took a deep breath. "These feelings have been gone from my life for so long….I can't just ignore them." Jake said falling into sadness.

Jake smirked to himself. "And I know you. You would have hated yourself if we had kissed back there. You're not the type of person who could betray someone you care about. And make no mistake that's EXACTLY what we were about to do." Jake lowered his head even further.

Miley's eyes were too full of tears and her head was too full of confusion to say anything.

Jake looked at her expression and decided it was for the best. "I…I just don't think we should be together like this anymore. I just can't help myself from wanting…. to love you." Jake said ever so softly.

Miley shook her head violently. "No. Please. Please don't make me choose. Not yet. I'm just not ready."

Jake smiled softly at her. "I'm not asking you to choose anything. I'm just telling you that I can't lie to myself and to Mark anymore. I can't be with you like this afternoon or last night and pretend that it doesn't mean anything to me…because it does. Being with you means everything to me." He said standing up and looking at Miley who was still seated on the ground with her legs off to her side who was looking anywhere but at Jake.

"I just can't pretend that I don't love you…because…because you're the one person in this world that I care most about. And I won't pretend with something that important." Jake said softly.

Tears were streaming down Miley's face but she still refused to look Jake in the eyes.

Jake took another look at her, bent down and placed a kiss on her forehead. "I'm still here for you but…I just don't think I can be your friend. At least not just a friend."

"And I don't want something to happen between us that you'll regret. That is just not something I think I could recover from."

"I love you Miles." Jake said softly. Jake stood up again sadly and reluctantly turned away from the girl he loved and walked slowly away.

Miley sat there in the middle of the most beautiful garden she had ever seen with the sun rays dancing upon her skin and felt completely and utterly empty.

**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!**


	13. Chapter 12

**Hey Guys-**

**Thanks for the reviews. I fogot to celebrate that last chapter I made it to 100 reviews with this story! That's so unbelievable. I think I had to get to chapter 14 or 15 with my last story so this is awesome! Thank you to everyone who reviewed especially those of you who are reviewing all the chapters. I am keeping this one going for you guys especially. Anyway this one is really short but I'm writing the next one now and maybe if I get enough reviews tonight I'll post the next one later. Enjoy!**

The next few months of Miley's life were fairly dreary. Her situation with Jake was such that they barely spoke outside of work and during work they had tried to remain as professional as possible. She hated it. She hated not going up to him and wrapping her arms around his waist. She hated not seeing him light up and smile every time he saw her. She hated how quiet they had become together, the constant laughter and easy conversation had vanished. And most of all she hated watching the other women on the cast gush over him all the time. It really felt as if she couldn't go a day without some woman asking her what he's like and if she could set them up.

Miley of course feigned ignorance of what Jake was looking for in a woman.

The only time there was something of that spark back in their relationship was when it was required for work. It was the only time that they allowed themselves to be in close proximity to one another. They had many scenes where they danced in beautiful costumes and somehow when they were there together on set everything else melted away and they let their feelings for each other show. Miley couldn't be in Jake's arms dancing without feeling wonderful and the smile that seemed to be missing from her everyday life would glow across her face once again. In the same token, Miley could see the awe in Jake's eyes every time she would walk on set in one of the beautiful evening gowns. Their feelings for each other led them to have as much chemistry on the dancefloor and on set as they seemed to in real life and the end result was extremely romantic onscreen. Kevin was ecstatic with their work. There had been few scenes with the two of them as a couple that they hadn't been able to do in 2 or 3 takes.

Things with Mark however seemed to be just as strained as they were with Jake. All the things she had found charming about him on their last movie together were now becoming annoying. She had loved having dinner at home and reading scripts together when they were first going out because she thought it was an excuse to be cuddly and romantic. But now she felt it was just more work. And although she loved her part she had never imagined being cooped up in her apartment during all of her free time going over lines when there were thousands of romantic restaurants, art galleries, and music venues to go and experience while she was here.

All in all she and Jake had done more and experienced more of Paris in her first week here than she and Mark had done in the next few months. Mark of course would tell her that it was their job to get their parts right but she didn't seem to see why this also meant that she had to miss out on the rest of life either.

The only relationship that Miley had that had made any progress during her time in Paris was her friendship with Jenna. And even that seemed to have restrictions. The two of them had a strict unspoken understanding that they would not talk about Jake or Mark when they got together. Jenna was fiercely loyal to Jake and knowing about their past made the topic very difficult for both of them. But it had been 5 months since they had met and even though Jenna was a great shopping and lunch buddy at the beginning she was now 8 months pregnant and very limited in the amount of activities that she could participate in. Miley still spent many of her afternoons over at her place helping her cook or setup new baby appliances with her while Kevin was trying to finish shooting as soon as humanly possible so that there wouldn't be much left when the baby arrived.

Things weren't all that depressing though. She had finally convinced Mark that they should spend a little more time in Europe after they were done with the film to really get reacquainted and maybe start thinking about their future. Miley had been planning their trip for the last few weeks and was excited to think about really visiting the rest of France, Italy and maybe even a cruise around the Greek Isles before they started to head back home. Plus Mark had asked her to have dinner with him tonight because he had a surprise for her. Miley really had no idea what the surprise could be but hopefully it would be something romantic since they really hadn't been spending much time together recently.

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That night Miley had donned a beautiful light blue babydoll dress and had worked on her hair and makeup more than usual to try and bring some of that new romance feel back to her relationship with Mark. If he was going to try and do something romantic like surprise her then she would be a good girlfriend and try and reciprocate the effort.

She showed up at Marks door at 7:00 as promised.

Mark answered and looked very impressed with what he saw before him. "God Miles. You look stunning!" He said as he leaned in and kissed her chastely.

He invited her in. He had a bottle of champagne chilled for them but the table was not set for dinner.

He sat her down on the couch and smiled brightly at her. He seemed to be nearly bursting with excitement. Miley couldn't help but feel excited too.

Mark popped the cork on the campaign and poured both of them glasses. He then came and sat down handing Miley her glass of champagne.

He held her hand in his. "Are you ready for my big surprise?" He asked still visibly excited.

Miley couldn't wait to hear what he had in store for her. "Of course!" She replied trying to match his excitement.

He took a breath and then looked at her blue eyes. "Alright. Well today I received some very exciting news." "Our agent had been getting calls from a producer who is starting a new tv series about New York celebrities. It's going to be the best new show out there. It's supposed to be a cross between sex and the city and entourage or something like than." Mark said starting to ramble.

"Anyway the best part is that they want us to star in the show! Isn't that great?"

Miley just sat there holding her champagne glass. She had been hoping for a candle lit dinner and now she was getting more job offers. "They want us?" was all she was really able to get out.

Mark didn't notice the slightly less than enthusiastic tone in her voice. "Yep. They heard about us doing the movie together and they were looking for a real life couple to star in the show together. So we move to New York in a month!"

Miley spit out her champagne. "WHAT?"

Mark looked at her lovingly with the excitement still in his eyes. "Yeah. It's wonderful isn't it? I mean we won't be able to take that little trip we talked about but this way we'll be ready to hop right into work."

Miley was too stunned and slightly angered to really speak yet.

Mark didn't noticed. He leaned in and kissed her on the temple.

"And unfortunately I can't stay for dinner hun. Kevin moved our shoot so that you'll be able to go on location this weekend. So I've gotta get to work."

"I'll see you in the morning though and we can start looking for apartments in New York."

Miley tried to speak. "But Mark…"

"Sorry hun. Gotta go. I'm already late. Love ya!" Was all she heard as he rushed out the door.

Miley went to the sink and poured the champagne down the drain. She did not want to celebrate this. She couldn't believe that he had decided all this without even speaking to her. She wasn't even sure if this was a part that she would want to take. And New York? New York was great to visit but all of her family and friends were in LA. When would she get to see them? And what happened to their European vacation? What would their relationship be like if they just jumped into another acting gig? Her mind was reeling. She needed someone to talk too who would understand what she was going through. Unfortunately for her the only one that she knew in Paris that would be able to talk her down from this had been avoiding her for the past 5 months. Well he would just have to get over that.

She picked up her coat and bag and found her keys. She was going to talk to Jake weather he liked it or not.

**READ AND REVIEW!!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!! **


	14. Chapter 13

**Hey there-**

**Thanks again for the reviews! We're approaching the total number of reviews I got for the entire last story I wrote which is AWESOME! And sorry if there's not much going on in this one but I needed to start up the miley jake story again and it will take a few chapters to get going. ENJOY!**

Jake had been lying on his couch watching tv in a pair of cargo pants and tight grey T-shirt when a thunderous knocking was pounding on his door.

Jake went and opened up the door.

Without being asked in Miley stormed into the entryway.

Jake couldn't help but have his eyes pop out of his head. She looked phenomenal.

"Wow. You look…"

Miley waved it off. "Save it Ryan. I can't believe HIM!" She was pacing back and forth the coat tails of her jacket billowing out behind her as she turned around and went the other direction.

Jake scratched his head. "Ok???" "How about you calm down and we talk."

Miley was in a rage. "HA! Talk! You'd think he'd want to TALK to me about moving to NEW YORK! You'd think he'd want to TALK to me about canceling our VACATION! You'd think that he'd want to TALK to me about taking another job together! BUT NOOOOOOO! He doesn't want to TALK! He wants to WORK! That's ALL he ever wants to do!" Miley picked up a pillow that had been on a bench in Jake's entryway and was slowly strangling it to death."

Jake couldn't help but smirk at her at this point. He had been on the wrong end of her wrath before and it had definitely not been funny then but having the guilty party be Mark he was enjoying himself thoroughly.

Jake cautiously approached her still smiling and lightly took the pillow. "Why don't you let me have this. I wouldn't want the cops to come after you for murdering the décor."

Jake led her into the living room and sat her down. He went to the kitchen and brought out a bottle of wine and some food he had been cooking.

"Have you eaten yet? I don't have anything wonderful but if this is too awful we can order out."

Miley stood up again "No! Of course I haven't eaten! He just walked out! He had to WORK! He always has to WORK! I can't believe he did this."

Jake smirked. "Ok…let's work on a list of things I can say that's not going to get you worked up again."

Miley looked remorseful. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be doing this. I shouldn't even be here. I just…I just needed someone to talk to. And I wanted that someone to be you." She said looking at Jake through half lidded eyes.

Jake sighed. "You have nothing to be sorry about. I told you. I'm always here for you. And I'm….I'm sorry for the way things have been between us."

Miley looked at him sadly. "No. You were right. Things were getting too heated. We needed some distance. I just…I just wish there was another way you know?"

Jake breathed out a small laugh. "Trust me. So do I."

Jake looked at Miley's flustered appearance and knew that now was probably not the time to talk about them. "Listen. Why don't we just talk and we'll deal with us tomorrow." Jake said offering his arms to Miley.

She grabbed onto him and felt the tears start to overpower her. "I don't know what to do Jake." She said speaking into his shirt.

Jake held onto her and kissed the top of her head affectionately. "Hey. We'll figure it out ok?" He said placing her at arms length and looking into her sad eyes. "let's just eat a little something and talk about what happened. And then if that doesn't make anything better we'll get out the raspberry chocolate mousse I have in the fridge. Ok?"

Miley smiled weakly. "Ok. But um….can I borrow some clothes? This thing is REALLY uncomfortable." She said motioning to the dress she was wearing.

Jake smiled. "Damn. I was actually hoping you'd start wearing that to work. Not that I'd be able to concentrate much but really…you look amazing." He said getting serious.

Miley just slapped him lightly on the shoulder. "I don't think that this is quite the 1920's style that Kevin is going for." She said smiling for the first time since coming over to Jake's.

Jake led her up the stairs to his bedroom and showed her the clean t-shirt drawer and found her a pair of blue and white striped pajama pants. "Here…you can probably roll these up." "If you want you can take a shower or bath or something and I'll heat up the dinner."

20 minutes later Miley appeared in the living room. She had taken a warm bath and calmed down considerably. She had put on a navy blue t-shirt and Jake's pajama pants and a pair of very comfortable athletic socks.

Miley and Jake had a comfortable dinner and chatted about unimportant things. They both knew they'd get to the conversation at hand when Miley was ready.

Putting her fork down Miley looked appraisingly at Jake. "That was really disgustingly good. I didn't know you could cook. I think if the public knew about this you'd have even more women sending you proposals in the mail." She said with a smirk enjoying the fact that she was probably one of very few that knew how much of a catch Jake actually was.

Jake just laughed it off. "Yeah. Well being by myself it was either learn how to cook or gain about a billion pounds by eating take out all the time."

Miley smiled in replied but it soon faded as she cast her eyes towards the floor.

Jake knew it was time to talk. "So….what's all this about New York?"

Miley sat next to him with her feet curled around her and a blanket over her for extra warmth and told him everything she could about what had happened earlier. When she was done explaining everything Mark had told her about the show, about moving and about their trip she looked over to see Jake shaking his head and laughing slightly.

She looked at him incredulously not really believing he could be that insensitive. "I really don't think that it was all that funny." Miley remarked with obvious surprise in her voice.

Jake stopped and looked at her. "It's not funny….its just for a second there it sounded like you were describing me."

Miley couldn't believe what she was hearing. "What?"

Jake looked at her sideways seeing the confusion in her face and tried to explain. "I mean that's not who I am anymore but it sounds an awful lot like who I was a few years ago."

Miley was still looking at him questioningly.

Jake sighed. "Listen. After we broke up in high school I became obsessed with work. I was always taking jobs and looking for my next big role. I thought that if I could be the best at what I did it would make me happy. So I would take rolls in strange places and pick up and leave at the drop of a hat without really thinking about how it would affect the rest of my life."

Miley looked at him clearly taking in what he was saying. "So what made you stop?"

Jake looked down and laughed. "Well…don't tell him this but I have Kevin to thank for that. I just spent so much time with him and Jenna when they were going out and falling for each other that it became pretty clear that making movies wasn't what was going to make me happy." He said not being able to bring his eyes to meet Miley's.

"And actually…I never really stopped putting work ahead of everything else…but by the time I realized that I wanted something else… I didn't have anything else left in my life." Jake said sadly looking down at his hands. He took another large drink of wine. He had never actually admitted this out loud to anyone. He felt even more lonely and empty than before. Something about hearing it out of his own lips made it much more real.

Miley noticed Jake's sadness and felt her heart breaking for him. She thoughtlessly put her hand in his and stroked his hand with her thumb. Her thoughts returned to Mark. "So…you think that Mark doesn't really want those things with me?" Miley said with sadness in her eyes and her voice.

Jake looked back at Miley and brought his hand to her cheek. Speaking softly he answered her "There are a million reasons that I should not be answering that question. But I don't think that really matters right now…all you need to decide is if you would do whatever it takes… weather it be moving to New York or putting the rest of your life on hold to be with HIM. If you do then you go back and try and try and TRY until you work things out. And if not…." Jake didn't answer. He couldn't answer because he had failed at this the only time it had ever mattered. He had left Miley and convinced himself not to try and now he had nothing.

Miley placed her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her waist holding her close. She looked up to him. "You're no help you know that? You're supposed to be the one person to tell me to ditch him and here you go being all supportive….you should work on that you know." She said with her sarcastic voice.

Jake laughed at the girl curled up besides him. "If I bring out the chocolate mousse will you forgive me?"

Miley's eyes sparkled. She put her finger to her chin as if thinking hard. "Maybe." She said excitedly with a smile.

Jake went and got the delicate dessert and another bottle of wine. "Alright. Wanna relax and watch a movie?"

Miley was already making herself right at home flipping on Jake's tv. "Any preferences?" she asked.

"Something funny."

They ended up just flipping through channels trying to make sense out of the French tv, eating the chocolate mousse and polishing off the bottle of wine. By the time they had finished the bottle they were both fairly tipsy. Luckily for both of their sakes Miley put on an old romantic movie and was soon falling asleep on Jake's shoulder. As Jake watched the film and listened to the gentle music he couldn't help but feel better than he had in a long time holding Miley next to him.

After the movie finished Jake went to pick up the sleeping girl next to him to carry her to his bedroom where he would let her sleep the rest of the night. As he got his arm underneath her legs she began to stir.

"No Jake." She said still half asleep wrapping her arms around his neck. "I don't want to go back to Mark yet." She softly pleaded continuing to sleep in his arms.

Jake laughed and in his softest voice spoke to her. "It's ok Miley. I'm just putting you to bed."

Miley just held onto him tighter and let out a contented sigh.

He climbed the stairs to his bedroom and placed her on the large down comforter. The motion must have stirred her slightly but not enough to wake her completely.

"Jake?" She mumbled still sleeping.

"Yeah Miles?" Jake said softly placing the comforter on top of her tiny form.

"I wish…I wish he was you." She said turning over softly still breathing deeply never waking from her sleep.

Jake couldn't help but feel a pain in his heart from all the nights he had stayed up thinking about Miley and wishing the exact same thing. "Me too," he whispered looking at the beautiful woman that he loved sleeping peacefully. "Me too." He said again shaking his head closing the door silently behind him.

**IF you're happy that Miley isn't at Mark's house leave a review. **

**If you're happy that Jake is adorable…leave a review.**

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	15. Chapter 14

**Hey Guys-**

**Wow. Thanks for all the reviews. I've officially past the review marker for my last story which I feel is a fairly good accomplishment since I was pretty proud of that one. Anyway we're close to the 150 review mark!!!! So keep it up and I'll keep this story coming to you as quickly as I can. I hope you like this one…I really enjoyed writing it. **

The next morning Miley awoke in the most comfortable bed she had ever slept in. She didn't immediately recognize the room. As she looked down to see Jake's clothes on her the events of yesterday came back to her… Mark and his stupid decisions... her getting angry and nearly killing a pillow….and Jake. Jake had taken her from furious to calm to feeling warm and safe and herself once again.

She smiled to herself. She knew that she had been on the couch when she had fallen asleep. Jake must have carried her up to his bedroom.

Miley got out of bed and brushed her teeth. Then looking at the clock she realized it was still very early. She tiptoed down the stairs to keep from waking Jake.

She came around the corner into the living room and found a very adorable looking Jake half falling off the large brown leather couch. The blanket that he had been using was mostly on the floor leaving him clinging to a small corner.

God had she missed him. She couldn't believe that they had been at odds for 5 whole months. It had been torture. He was always around but completely off limits. And then when she had needed him he had come through for her knowing exactly what to do to make her feel good about herself once again. He hadn't tried to fix Mark. Instead he had helped fix her. She had felt so powerless and scared when she had come to see him feeling like she had no control over where her life was taking her and he had shown her that it was still her life to lead.

Her life to lead. She was ashamed of how little of her life she had been leading recently. She had let Mark dictate everything about their relationship. They had stayed in and focused on work not because he had wanted it but because she had let it happen. And she had let it happen because it was safe.

Miley was reminded of her first conversation with Lilly in Paris. She had told her not to be afraid of love. At that time Miley thought that Lilly was talking about both Mark and Jake. But she hadn't. She knew that the only person that Miley could ever really love had always been Jake.

Somewhere in the back of her mind Miley had always known that if she lost Mark she wouldn't lose herself in the process. But with Jake that was never true. Being with him would be an all or nothing endeavor. And if she loved him the way she knew she could she would never be the same again without him.

That was what scared her most of all. She wasn't completely sure she was ready to jump off the deep end and let everything go to be with Jake but she was ready to take back her life. She wouldn't be spending anymore time with someone who didn't want to share the big decisions in life with her. She was done with Mark.

She suddenly felt relived. She felt like a part of her had been missing the last 5 months was finally found again. And now she felt…tired. Emotional decisions don't come easily she thought to herself.

She looked back at Jake. He still looked adorable sprawled out on the couch. He also looked ridiculously comfy.

She breathed in deeply making a decision. She was not going to be afraid of love anymore. She would give herself every opportunity to be happy.

Miley smiled to herself. She tiptoed next to the couch and carefully lifted the blanket and slowly laid herself down next to him taking pains not to wake him. She put her arms around his waist making sure she didn't fall off the couch. She loved the feeling of just being close to him. She felt herself relax considerably and she was soon fast asleep again in Jake's arms.

Jake awoke a few hours later among a cloud of brown curls. He smiled to himself. He knew this was not where he had put her last night. He had been tipsy but he had not been THAT tipsy. He couldn't help but notice how well she fit up against him and how good it felt to wake up with her head resting on his chest.

It was then that he realized that his right arm was very much asleep. He tried to lift it out from underneath the sleeping beauty next to him but was unsuccessful. He grazed the top of her head as he lifted his arm causing her to stir.

She drew in a heavy breath and turned slowly opening her eyes. When she saw him she smiled. Jake smiled back at her.

"Hey." She said still smiling.

"Hey." He replied. He chuckled to himself. "You must be one hell of a sleepwalker."

Miley yawned and blushed a little. "I woke up too early and came down…and then you looked pretty comfortable so I thought I'd join you." She said slyly rubbing her hand on his chest.

Jake couldn't help but hold onto her blue eyes. "I don't think I was complaining."

Miley propped herself up on her left arm so that she was still facing Jake. Still looking at him flirtatiously she finished. "Good."

Jake caught a flash of those blue eyes and knew that something about her had changed since yesterday. This wasn't the same girl who had come to his house nearly in tears. This was the strong confident Miley that he had known most of his life. Sitting there in his pajamas with her newfound confidence Jake didn't think she had ever looked so beautiful.

Miley slapped him playfully on the shoulder. "Come on. You get up and take a shower and I'll make breakfast for you…you know…as a thank you." She said eyes sparkling.

Jake sat up placing both of his feet on the floor and rubbed the sleep from his eyes with the palms of his hands.

Miley took his hand and helped him off the couch.

Holding his hand and leading him into the kitchen Miley stopped to take in the house she was in. She had been so mad the night before that she hadn't registered how unbelievably beautiful it actually was.

Jake was confused for their stop and looked down at her. "What is it?"

Miley was near speechless. The house was perfect. The small polished terracotta tiles felt wonderful beneath her feet. The subdued colors made everything about the house feel warm and inviting. The Spanish tiles in the kitchen were beautiful and yet more homey than she could ever remember a kitchen being. There were windows everywhere bringing in fresh daylight and spring air. And the furnishings were a mixture of old and new, no two pieces matching and yet everything seemed to go together. Compared to her beautiful apartment that was chic and modern this place felt like a real home. "I guess I didn't quite realize how beautiful your place was until now." She said looking up at Jake.

"I guess you must be as big a movie star as they say if Kevin's going to spring for a house like this for you to stay in." Miley asked still letting her gaze fall upon each and every token and trinket in the house.

Jake let out a small breath and ruffled his hair. "Actually….this is mine." He said bashfully.

Miley's eyes got wide. "You OWN this place?" Miley said not quite believing it.

Jake smiled. "Yeah. I came over here intending to buy something as an investment you know. Fit it up, keep it for a few years and then sell it." He said motioning down the hallway.

"So I came here a few weeks early and started looking around at a bunch of apartments. And then one day I was driving down this street and noticed the For Sale sign out front. And I don't know… I just had to see inside the place. The second I walked in I knew I wanted to live here. I don't know it was just…"

"perfect." Miley said softly completing Jake's thought.

Jake walked up to a black and white picture of him and his parents when he was little. "I just somehow thought this would be a great place to bring a family too someday."

Miley looked at him honestly. "It will be."

The look in Miley's eyes when she said those words nearly caused Jake's heart to stop. There was something of a….promise in the way that she said it that made Jake's knees go weak. It was far too much to hope for.

Jake smiled at her regaining his composure. "Um….You haven't even seen the best part yet." He said taking her by the hand and leading her towards the door in the kitchen. He opened it up revealing a beautiful patio with a large wood table for lots of guests and family that was under cover of a large overhang of the house. There were beautiful potted plants and trees lining the backyard and a smell of lilac in the air. It was incredible.

Miley smiled even brighter at him. "It's settled. We'll eat out here this morning. Now….go take that shower!" She said with tone of mock authority.

Jake smirked to himself. If she were going to stay here in those clothes he would do just about anything she asked of him. When he came back down drying his hair with a towel he found that Miley had changed. She was wearing a pair of light grey sweatpants that had a drawstring to hold them up, a white tank top and one of his light blue button down shirts with the sleeves rolled up. She had set the table outside for the two of them sitting next to each other at the corner of the table. She had even picked some of the flowers and greenery from the garden and placed them on the table next to their plates. She was already seated in her chair hugging one leg with her left arm and letting the other dangle beneath her. The paper was opened in front of her and she was skimming for something interesting. He couldn't believe how beautiful she made the house feel with her in it.

That's when the feelings he had been feeling overwhelmed him. Love. It had always been love. But now….there was something else, something almost frightening. He had been in love with her memory for nearly a decade and it had kept him warm at night but it was different now. He used to think about how they had held hands in between classes, how they had stolen kisses from each other when her dad couldn't see, and how they had first told each other that they loved each other. But now what he felt for those memories paled in comparison for what he felt for her now.

He had of course loved her since they were kids but he had never really appreciated what they had when they were together. And the reason for it was simple. At the time that they had broken up he had never lost anything important to him. But then he had lost something. He had lost everything because…. he had lost her.

And now he had fallen in love again. And he had fallen harder than he had ever considered possible and if he was honest it happened the second he saw those blue eyes again. Even when they hadn't been talking she was the first and only thing his eyes sought. He couldn't help himself near her and so he had tried to stay away. He had tried to hide his feelings, he had tried to ignore them but it was useless. Every moment of the last 5 months that he had been away from her he had spent thinking about and wishing he was with her. And it terrified him. He had never in his life been as vulnerable as he was with Miley and now watching her eating breakfast and looking so comfortable in his house he knew he had lost his heart to her for good. He only hoped that she would be gentle with it.

Jake approached and smelled something wonderful. He joined Miley and found himself face to face with a plate full of chocolate chip pancakes and freshly cut peaches. "God those look good."

Miley smirked. "Of course they're good. It's not everyday that you get a popstar actress making you breakfast." Then turning serious she looked at him. "Is it?"

Jake tried to laugh with the pancakes in his mouth. He swallowed. "NO. That is definitely a first for this house."

The phone rang and Jake went in to get it bringing it back out onto the porch.

"Hey Kevin." Miley heard Jake saying.

"What happened?" Jake asked in a voice devoid of the friendly chatting that he had answered the phone. Miley watching him carefully feeling that this was not a good phone call.

"Is…is she going to be ok?" Jake got out with difficulty. His face had turned pale but he was trying to remain strong. Miley instinctually grabbed onto his hand feeling the fear in his voice.

"We'll be right there." He said and he hung up. Just hearing one side of the conversation Miley was near tears. She had never seen Jake look so serious and it scared her more than she wanted to admit.

He looked her straight in the eye holding both of her hands in his. "Jenna… was having early contractions this morning and they took her to the hospital. They were trying to stop her from going into labor since she's still early. But something is wrong with the baby's heartbeat." Jake said getting choked up.

"They're getting Jenna ready for surgery." A tear started rolling down Miley's cheek. Jake brushed it off with his thumb.

He held Miley's face in his hands. "Hey. Look at me. They both have amazing doctors. Everything will be ok."

Then looking into Jake's eyes she found herself believing it.

Jake stood up. "I'm going to go over there. Kevin is a wreck. Do you want to come?" He said with concern heavy in his voice.

She was still holding his hand. "You're not going anywhere without me." She said strongly.

Jake looked at her fondly noting once again all the changes in her since yesterday. But he had changed too. For the first time in ages he hoped that maybe she really meant it.

**SOooooooooo????? What do you think? BE HONEST AND REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!**


	16. Chapter 15

**Hey guys-**

**Sorry for the super long wait for this chapter. It's been a really difficult one for me to write. I have 3 very different versions and I'm not truly happy with this one but I think it will work with the rest of the story which I also think just got longer (hope you don't mind). Anyway I have the next few pretty well along so it shouldn't be that long of a wait for the next one. Enjoy and keep up the reviews!!!! I'm aiming for 200 now with this one! Make those dreams come true. **

Miley watched as Jake drove them to the hospital. To anyone else he would seem calm and collected but she could tell the difference. He was breathing heavier than normal and if you looked closely you could see his hands trembling slightly on the steering wheel.

Miley herself didn't know what to do. She was watching the scenery pass by trying to keep the tears that were threatening to spill out from coming.

Jake noticed her struggle and instinctually took her hand in his.

Miley instantly felt stronger than she looked. There was something so innocent and yet so calming about his hands that she couldn't help loving the feeling of them with hers. It was such a simple gesture but with Jake it said everything about him. She knew for certain that he was there for her completely. There were no conditions with Jake. There never had been. He had always been willing to do anything for her. It had been so long since anyone had treated her that way that she had almost forgotten what it was like.

When they arrived at the hospital they located Kevin in the emergency room waiting room pacing about looking more frantic than Miley could have ever imagined.

Miley did the only thing she could think of….she hugged him. It was obvious to anyone that no one really existed at the moment except for Jenna and their child and that nothing would be right again until they were both in his arms again and it killed her to see the pain so clearly painted on his face. She let go and let Jake and Kevin embrace as brothers.

"God I'm glad you're here." Kevin got out holding back tears. "They're still prepping her for surgery. I'll go back there before they put her under." He was breathing deeply. "I have no idea what's really going on. Her doctor is on vacation at the moment so this new guy doesn't even speak very good English. I had to get one of the nurses to translate! They act all calm but they're checking both Jenna and the baby's heart rate constantly!" He breathed in again heavily. "They've been trying to stop the contractions to see if they can bring up the baby's heart rate but it hasn't been working." "They came in about 2 minutes ago and told me that they're going to have to go in and get the baby out…or else…" Kevin couldn't continue but they all knew how that sentence would end.

Jake hugged him fiercely. Then taking Kevin's face in his hands he looked directly in his eyes. Speaking steadily and calmly he told him "Tonight you and I are going to celebrate the birth of your child. There is no question of that. Ok?" "Now you have to be strong for Jenna and the baby…you're going to be a father before the day is out."

Hearing Jake's steady words seemed to calm Kevin and give him a sense of purpose. He took in a deep breath and walked down the hall to the room where they were prepping Jenna for surgery.

Jake watched Kevin walk down the hallway and remained eerily still. Miley could see the fear etched in his features. She could also tell that if anyone could will things to go well today that Jake would do it. She slowly took his hand in hers and then wrapped her arms around his waist not wanting to face the pain of what might happen alone. Jake responded immediately holding her closely. They stood like that until a stranger entered the room breaking apart their silent sanctuary.

At first Miley had tried to cope with the emotions running around her by herself. But soon the terror and dread of what Jenna was going through overtook any rational thought. Miley and Jenna had spent so many hours picking out decorations for the baby's room and finding toys that they thought he or she would enjoy that the baby was already very real to Miley. She couldn't bear to think of the baby or Jenna being in danger.

She couldn't just sit there and wait this out alone. She needed Jake.

She tried first to be calm again just holding onto his hand for support. Then she laid her head against his shoulder and let him calmly stroke her hair. After an hour passed and no word had reached them about Jenna or the baby Miley couldn't take it anymore. She stood up and began pacing the room.

She was imagining how Jenna must have felt being put under with her baby's life in danger and the tears she had been holding back started overwhelming her. An instant later Jake was next to her with his arms around her holding her tightly and telling her that Jenna and the baby would both be fine.

Miley couldn't explain what she was feeling. She had never felt this before. She was terrified one minute and then the instant he took her in his arms she felt safe. He made her feel as if everything would be ok.

She knew that things between them were changing without saying anything. They had flirted and gotten close but she was beginning to realize that she _needed_ him in a way she had never needed anyone. The walls around her heart that had been there for so long were crumbling.

A half an hour later it was Jake's turn to lose it. They had stood near the window to the waiting room holding onto each other as if both their lives depended on it. Then as if something inside of him snapped he broke away and started pacing. His hand was immediately in his hair ruffling it as he always did when he was agitated.

He began talking to himself. "An hour and a half! And no one has come by to tell us ANYTHING." He spoke loudly while pacing back and forth.

She looked into his eyes. They were dark and sad and helpless. This was not the man that the public knew. Even the man that had been strong for Kevin had disappeared. This was the Jake that she thought only she really knew. The one who could be vulnerable…the one who was just as mortal as everyone else.

Miley took a deep breath. "You don't have to be so strong all the time you know." She said.

Jake just shook his head. "I just…I hate being helpless. Those are my best friends. If something happens…" Jake couldn't finish the sentence. He was feeling choked by the words.

Miley didn't say anything. She just walked up to him and took his hand in hers. She slowly brought their entangled hands to her lips kissing his hand and fingers softly. Jake had closed his eyes and his head dropped in surrender. It looked like all of his energy was gone. He rested his head against Miley's. Miley could see him relaxing at her touch. She continued to disarm him by repeating her soft kisses with his other hand then encircling her arms around his neck bringing her body closely and tightly up next to his. Jake wrapped his arms around her again and they held each other even tighter than before.

Jake couldn't believe the effect she had on him. One minute he was going mad ready to run around and shake people until someone told him what was going on and the next she had melted him. The feeling of her lips against his skin had been his undoing. It was as if she was taking away everything painful, everything stressful and all she had to do was be herself. She knew exactly how to help him even when he didn't know how to help himself.

He opened his eyes and found her blue piercing eyes staring up at him. Jake cracked a small smile. "Thank you." He whispered softly before lightly kissing her forehead.

Miley looked into his green eyes and knew things between them were different than they had ever been before. She was standing here with him facing a truly scary and difficult time…and instead of feeling lost and hopeless she felt….found. It was as if standing here in a hospital waiting room she was experiencing her first taste of real love.

She was stronger with him than she would ever be alone and she knew that it was the same for him. She had been worried for 5 months about losing herself if she allowed herself to fall for him again. But standing there in his arms she realized she hadn't been herself since he left. She had been pretending to be fine for so long that she had forgot that it was an act. Now being with him she knew she couldn't pretend any longer.

She knew for certain that she wanted and needed Jake by her side. More importantly she realized that she needed and wanted to be by his. It was then she saw Jake for what he really was. He was much more than a boyfriend or a lover could ever be. In his eyes she saw a true partner and the closest friend she would ever have in her life.

She looked in his green eyes and realized finally that the thing she had been most afraid of in life….losing Jake's love could never really happen. She had never lost his love, they had both just lost their courage to fight for it. She tightened her arms around his neck and delighted in the feeling of loving and being loved so completely by her one and only…the man she wanted to be with for the rest of her life. Jake.

Finally after nearly 2 hours of being gone Kevin came back into the waiting room with a huge smile on his face.

"It's a boy."

**PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!!!!!!!! **


	17. Chapter 16

**Hey Guys-**

**Thanks for sticking with me even after that long update for the last chapter. This one is nice and long as a reward. You know what you have to do at the end though. Click the little button at the bottom left of your screen. You know you want to. And just be prepared it might take me a bit longer than a day for the next one…but hopefully not.**

_Finally after nearly 2 hours of being gone Kevin came back into the waiting room with a huge smile on his face. _

"_It's a boy." _

Both Miley and Jake let out the breaths they had been holding at the sight of him.

Jake and Miley smiled. "Is he alright?" They nearly said together.

Kevin nodded and sobered slightly losing the smile he had been wearing. "They think his neck got tangled in the umbilical cord during the contractions she was having. He wasn't getting enough oxygen. That's what caused the heartbeat to weaken. But as soon as they got him out he started getting stronger"

"And Jenna?" Miley asked with small tears of happiness streaming down her cheek as she clutched Jake's shirt for comfort.

Kevin smiled and breathed in and out as if he had forgotten how to do this. "She's beautiful." "She's just came out from sedation a little while ago." "You should see how gorgeous she looks holding him." Kevin said nearly bursting with the happiness inside him.

"The doctor said that they both look good. They're going to keep Jenna and Ryan the next few days to run some tests and make sure there was no lingering damage….but it looks like they'll both be fine."

Miley and Jake were hugging each other tightly both with tears in their eyes. "Thank GOD!" Miley finally said breaking free of Jake and taking Kevin in her arms.

Jake looked at Kevin and smiled a real smile for the first time since they arrived. Kevin was hugging Miley as hard as he could and tears were coming down both of their faces.

Jake smirked feeling good to finally be smiling again. "So….Ryan is it?"

Kevin looked back at his friend smiling even bigger. "Yes. Ryan. You'll have to thank Jenna for that one. Apparently she wanted to name him after some hot shot movie star she had a crush on."

Jake smiled and gave Kevin his hand bringing him into a tight hug. "You're one lucky bastard you know that?" "Thank you." He whispered into his ear.

Kevin smiled knowingly. "Yeah I am. And you're welcome. But this means that you have to name your kid after me you know…it's only fair." He said jokingly.

Jake looked at him disgustedly. "Ok. Me and my pretend wife will get right on that."

Kevin just looked between Jake and Miley and smiled. Jake knew that he had seen how they had held each other when he came in and was thinking that maybe someday soon it would be the two of them in the hospital awaiting their first child. Before he could correct his assumptions Kevin piped up.

"I'm going to go check on my wife. They're moving her to a room soon so you guys will be able to see her too." Kevin said still smirking and walking out the door.

Miley and Jake stayed and ran errands for the new family most of the rest of the day. They had gone to Kevin's house to get clothes and some new things for the baby. They had called the producers and other important people at the studio letting them know what had happened.

After awhile Kevin and Jake disappeared in a ridiculously good mood. Jenna and Miley assumed they had gone to have a small celebration over Ryan's arrival.

An hour or so later large amounts of flowers started to pour in for her Jenna and the new member of the James family. Being the only one left in the room with Jenna and Ryan Miley took it upon herself to find space and arrange the various bouquets around the room. At first Miley was surprised that so many people had found out about the baby so quickly and had managed to send such beautiful flowers. Then Jenna started asking for the cards.

Jenna was in her bed with the baby next to her asleep when Miley heard the sound of someone trying to stifle fits of uncontrollable laughter. Miley looked over at Jenna and gave her a questioning look. Jenna simply handed her the small stack of cards that Miley had given to her a few minutes ago.

"Take a look at these." She asked Miley with a huge grin on her face.

After getting through the first dozen cards Miley realized what was so funny. Instead of being from distant family and friends all of the bouquets seemed to be from either Kevin or Jake. It appeared as if they had bought out every single flower from the shop on the first floor of the hospital and had them sent up to Jenna as a sort of competition. They also seemed to have run out of sweet things to say and by the 6th or 7th card there were wishes like "way to go sport" or Miley's personal favorite that said "happy secretary's day" in Kevin's unruly scrawl. Miley thought that the two escapees had certainly made the florists' day trying to outdo each other with their little game. Miley laughed. She guessed this is what people with far too much money on their hands did when they were ridiculously happy.

Miley continued to make her rounds picking out the cards from the bouquets of flowers seeing what the boys had in store for Jenna next when she noticed that the card from the beautiful bouquet of tiger lilies had her name on the card instead of Jenna's.

Miley blushed slightly as she opened the card. Inside it read.

"_Miley- I can't thank you enough for sticking by me toady. I would have been so completely lost without you. You made even the most difficult times seem bearable and I will never be able to thank you enough for that. You amaze me. All my love, Jake."_

As she read the card she couldn't help but think that she was now wearing a silly grin across her face but she didn't care. Even amidst all the chaos and excitement of being a godfather and seeing how happy his friends were Jake had taken the time to do something special for her. God she loved that about him. She placed the card in her pocket for safe keeping and continued her rounds helping Jenna.

Another hour later Jake and Kevin returned with real food for them to eat, a bottle of champagne that they had snuck in and even more toys for the baby. They put the food on the side table and Kevin immediately went and checked on his wife kissing her hand and smiling uncontrollably. Jake was also still in a fantastic mood. He came up behind Miley and put his arms around her and spun her around. "So…did you miss me?" He whispered flirtatiously in her ear.

Miley was smiling widely to herself. She had missed him. After spending so much time alone with Jake in his arms being by herself had seemed almost unbearable. She tilted her head back towards his and responded equally flirtatiously "Maybe."

She kept her head tilted backwards with Jake's arms around her waste. She was getting lost again in his eyes. In them she could see all the love, desire and even playfulness that had been there the day before but there was something else something different about those eyes. And she realized that the guardedness that had lingered yesterday had gone completely. He was hers. The honesty of that look made him even more attractive to Miley. She wanted him….and she wanted him completely. She tilted her head even further and started leaning towards him wanting nothing more than to claim him once and for all.

Kevin coughed suddenly and Miley nearly jumped. She felt the blood rushing to her face. She had forgotten that anyone else was even in the same building as her and Jake let alone the same room. Kevin and Jenna though hadn't seemed to notice her and Jake getting lost in each other in the back of the room. They only had eyes for each other at the moment and Miley was extremely grateful.

Something seemed to jog Jenna and Kevin away from their little world but they still weren't paying enough attention to notice the red faces and deep breathing of the other two now standing just slightly apart in the back of the room.

Jenna looked over at Miley and smiled good-naturedly. "Where's Mark? He should be here to celebrate with us!"

Mark. Miley thought. She hadn't spent a second thinking about him all day. She had been so worried about Jenna and the baby and then of course there had been Jake. She couldn't believe it was last night that she had come to his house crying about Mark. Her eyes darkened as she looked over to see Jake's reaction to his name.

Mark. Jake thought. The name was like a knife stabbing at his perfect happiness. He had somehow forgotten about the current boyfriend of the woman he loved. It was as if someone had knocked the wind right out of him or he had forgotten how to breathe again. There was no question in his mind how completely and utterly he had fallen for her again. But today things had been so different between them. He knew she had felt it too. This wasn't a one sided love…there was desire in her eyes that nearly set Jake on fire.

He didn't know how he could stand this anymore. Mark and Miley hadn't yet spoken since their fight and Jake didn't know what he'd do if they worked things out. He really couldn't breathe.

"You and Mark will have to come over soon to celebrate with us." Jenna said still glowing brightly with her baby boy in her arms oblivious to the level of panic she was causing for Jake or the darkened expression Miley now wore.

Without feeling Miley replied. "I'm sure he'd be thrilled."

Jake spoke up looking desperate, pale and ill. "I um…I think I'm going to go find us some napkins or something….you guys go ahead and eat. I'll uh…be right back." He said softly to the room. He spared one last glance at Miley and left the room.

Miley watched him leave wanting nothing more than to run after him and tell him everything. How she loved him. How she desperately wanted to be with him and only him. How despite everything the last day and a half were the best days of her life because she had been with him. But she didn't. She felt too guilty to move. She had let herself fall completely and utterly head over heals in love with someone else without even speaking to Mark about their situation. She knew in her heart that they were over but even Mark deserved to know it before she threw herself into the arms of someone else. She sucked in a breath and decided that she would not wait a second longer than necessary to end it with Mark. As soon as she got back she would find him and talk to him. It was the only thing to do she thought as she looked back at the door that Jake had escaped from ….and she would do it ….for all their sakes.

Kevin found Jake an hour later leaning on his elbows on the wall of the hospital roof.

"You snuck out of there pretty quickly." Came Kevin's voice across the cool spring night air.

"How'd you find me?" Jake asked evenly not taking his eyes off the point in space that he had been concentrating on.

Kevin smirked. "Well luckily for me all I have to ask is 'has anyone seen a movie star recently'…and they pretty much tell me exactly where you've gone."

Jake gave a small smile and looked down at his hands on the railing. "I'm really sorry there Kev. I really didn't mean to spoil the party in there I just all of a sudden needed air….LOTS of air." Jake said seriously still staring out into the crisp night air.

Kevin shrugged it off and made his way next to Jake. "Mark huh?"

Jake shook his head pretending like it hadn't bothered him. "Nah …I mean at first I was jealous of you and Jenna looking so happy with your new family." He said honestly. Then smirking he added. "And THEN I was jealous of Mark and Miley."

Kevin patted Jake on the back. "Yeah well today has been one of those emotional rollercoaster days…I'm sure she'll come around." He said honestly trying to be as supportive as possible.

"And as for me and Jenna you just happened to catch us on one of those unbelievably good days…you don't get to see the times that Jenna and I are at each others throats or wondering where we'll spend the next year of our lives...or what happens when she changes the football game to some home decorating show. I swear to GOD I will never understand how THAT could be better than football!" Kevin added getting a little overexcited and off-track.

Jake laughed and then shook his head his eyes getting darker with a twinge of regret. "I just…." He started turning towards Kevin trying to explain how he was feeling. "I just keep falling for her…and each time it feels like I'm falling harder than ever before…and everyday she's still with Mark its like I get further and further from ever begin able to have what you guys have." Jake said honestly looking at Kevin.

"I mean what am I going to do if she doesn't end it with Mark…what if they end up together forever? I mean is that it? Have I missed my chance at having a family?" Jake said almost desperately. Kevin could tell this was all Jake had been able to think about since he had left the room.

He smirked at Jake. "You do know you're not THAT repulsive right? I mean if you really WORKED hard at it some other girl MIGHT just let you take her on a date. I mean I know how hard it is for movie stars in general to get dates but I think you could break that taboo." Kevin said trying to raise his friend's spirits.

Jake couldn't even find it in himself to laugh at Kevin's attempt at humor. He remained still and shook his head sadly looking out at the night sky around them. "There is no other girl."

Kevin who had seen the looks between Jake and Miley knew that for Jake he was telling the absolute truth. Kevin had no other answer or witty comebacks. He could only hope that Miley's feelings for Jake were as strong as he thought. He had been betting since the very beginning that the two of them wouldn't be able to keep themselves away from each other for a full 6 months while working so closely together. He had placed Jake's heart and happiness on the line and he hoped for all their sakes that for once in his life he would be proven right.

Kevin placed his arm around his friends shoulder and the two of them just sat there in silence thinking about what the future might hold for each of them.

**READ AND REVIEW!!!!!! **


	18. Chapter 17

**Hey Guys-**

**WOW. I was hoping to get to 200 reviews by the end of this story and here I am at 198 with several chapters left. Hopefully that means this one should put me over the top. YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!! **

**Sorry this took so long. But without further ado…and by VERY popular demand….oh just read it.**

Much later that night Jake dropped Miley off at her apartment. Miley gave him a small kiss on the cheek before leaving the car but it didn't seem to boost his spirits any. Jake had lost that spark in his eyes since Mark's name had come up. Miley had felt awful but her guilt about her feelings for Jake and the way she had been acting with him was outweighing just about everything else. She didn't want to keep her feelings for Jake a secret but she had to end things with Mark before she could let anything happen between them.

She entered the apartment and noticed her cell phone on the table. She hadn't even realized that she had left it here. She flipped it open and found 3 missed calls from Mark. She sighed. She knew that she needed to get this over with sooner rather than later.

She looked down and noticed that she was still wearing Jake's clothes and figured that to avoid adding any insult to injury with Mark she would take a shower and change.

A half hour later Miley walked down the small hallway to Mark's apartment. She knocked.

Mark came to the door. "Miles! I was getting worried. I thought we were going to look for apartments today!" He said still smiling.

Miley cringed inwardly. "Actually…Mark. That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

Mark looked at her curiously. "Ok. What is there to talk about?"

Miley was taken aback. "Are you kidding?" Miley asked seriously her eyes widening with indignation.

Mark just shrugged.

The calming affect that Jake had on her had vanished. "WHAT IS THERE TO TALK ABOUT? How could you make all these decisions about both of our lives without even asking me about them?" Miley yelled.

Mark opened his mouth to say something but was prevented by Miley.

"I mean..You single-handedly canceled our vacation, took new jobs for us for a role I don't know anything about, and moved us to NEW YORK." "THAT'S what I want to talk about!" Miley said pacing back and forth flailing her hands around animatedly.

Mark smiled at her mischeviously wrapped her in his arms and kissed her neck. "You're really sexy when you're upset you know that." Mark said huskily in her ear trying to disarm the firecracker next to him.

Miley shoved him away from her with everything that was in her shaking her head. "FINE. If you don't want to talk about this then you WILL listen."

'I am NOT taking this new Job!

I am NOT moving to New York with you!

And I am NOT going out with ANY guy who is stupid enough to think that he has the RIGHT to make decisions for me!"

This seemed to wake him up. He looked terrified. "Miles. Wait a minute. Calm Down. I didn't mean that we couldn't talk about this! I just thought that this was what you wanted." Mark said sincerely.

"What I WANTED??? WHAT I WANTED? How on EARTH would you know what I wanted since you seem to be incapable of ASKING me!" Miley yelled. Her anger evident.

Miley sighed and shook her head feeling the tears coming to her eyes as she felt the betrayal of what had happened coming back to her.

Mark took her in his arms looking terrified and sad. "Miles. I'm sorry ok. I'm really really sorry. I thought you'd be as excited about this as I was. I…I just thought that after being apart for so long that you'd want to continue being able to be together. So when my agent called with the opportunity for us to work together again I jumped at it. I mean how great is that the two of us together again?"

Miley looked at him sadly. "And if I moved to New York and did this would that really change anything between us?" She asked already knowing the answer.

Mark looked at her questioningly. "What do you mean change things? We'd be together. Isn't that what we both want?"

Miley shook her head. "I don't know if I can want that anymore." She said quietly not really being able to bring her eyes to his.

Mark looked at her with sheer panick on his face. "What do you mean you IF you can want that anymore?" He answered his voice rising.

Miley looked at Mark noticing the anger and frustration in his eyes and tried to speak as calmly as possible. "What I mean is… even here in Paris where we've been together for the past 5 months but…we haven't REALLY been together. We haven't gone anywhere, we haven't done ANYTHING we just stay here and work. And I'm sorry but that's just not enough for me anymore." She said calmly.

She sighed and slumped into the chair next to the kitchen table. "I thought that this movie in Paris would be a place where we could jumpstart our relationship. Where we could rekindle what we had a year and a half ago. I thought that we could start sharing the finer things in life together….go out to eat, taste French wine, see the sites and have something in our lives that we've shared to really build upon. But…the only thing we did together was work. And that's just not enough for me anymore." She said quietly but resolutely.

Mark looked sad and sincere and kneeled down by Miley taking her hand. "Miley. My work is important to me. It's important to us. I just want to be able to give you everything you've ever wanted. And to do that I need to keep working while I can. We both know how fickle this industry is." Mark replied pleadingly.

Miley looked at him and saw love in his eyes. She felt sorry for him in her heart but knew it wasn't going to change the way things were between the two of them.

"Mark. Having money and being famous are great most of the time but that's not what I really want."

Mark seemed to be getting agitated. "Then what do you want Miley? I mean I find us a job where we can be together and you go ballistic."

Miley looked at him. A few short months ago she wouldn't have known how to answer that question. But now…she knew. She thought of Jake and what he meant to her.

She thought of how excited and happy Jake had been to show her the beautiful sights of Paris…to see the Eiffel tower at night, to stroll along the beautiful grounds at Luxembourg gardens.

She looked at Mark and thought of all the missed opportunities to share Paris together. She took in a breath and looked at him steadily. "I want someone who wants to spend as much time with me as possible who…who wants to show me the beautiful things in life for no other reason than to see me smile and know he was the cause of it."

She thought of how Jake had sent her flowers in the middle of all the chaos of earlier just to show how much he cared for her and how much she meant to him.

"I want someone who even in the middle of their busiest days can find someway of showing me that he cares about me instead of just leaving me be by myself all the time."

She thought of the day in the garden when he had told her that he wasn't going to pretend that he didn't love her….that she was the person he cared most about and that he couldn't pretend with something that special.

"And I want someone who thinks of me as the most important thing in his life. Not his job or his career….but me…and my love." Her eyes were sad and dark and tears were ready to spill out onto her cheeks.

Mark hadn't done any of these things. He hadn't shared Paris with her. He hadn't made time for her during work to make things special. He hadn't put her first in anything. He had put his job first …as he had always done. Miley knew it was over.

Mark inched closer to her rubbing her hands with his. "Miley…I know that we haven't spent as much time together doing things normal people do or traveling around Paris but we're not normal people you and me. We work in an industry that is just too demanding to expect everything to be as it was for your parents or something. But we are here...together…doesn't that count for something?"

Miley looked up at him with sincerity in her eyes but shook her head. "I used to think so. When we were apart…I used to think that being together would solve all of our problems…that it would bring us closer. But…it didn't. And…and I just think that we both deserve more in our lives. You need someone who's content to ride your coattails all the time… someone who can support your career above everything else. And I….I need someone who is going to love me first…and worry about work second." She said quietly with her head down.

Miley looked over at his sad and defeated face and her eyes darkened. Breaking up with someone is never an easy thing to do. She looked back at him. "I really do care about you Mark but…we're just not looking for the same things. I….I've seen the glitzy side of Hollywood and….it's great…but it's not real. I need someone who wants to experience real life with me…who needs me with him more than any movie roll ever written. And…that's just not us." She said quietly with a tear in her eye. She did care about him…she just didn't love him.

"I'm sorry…but…I can't see you anymore." She finished getting up slowly retrieving her bag quietly and leaving a speechless Mark sitting bewildered in his apartment.

As she closed the door she turned towards the stairs across from Mark's apartment. There sitting at the top of the steps with his back towards Mark's door was Jake.

**You know what you have to do….READ AND REVIEW!!!!!**


	19. Chapter 18

**Hey Guys-**

**Just so you know with my first story I would wait until I had at least 5 reviews for a chapter before I'd even think of posting another. Back then it would take a day or two just to get that many. Now for that last chapter not only did I make it past the 200 review mark but I also got 20 reviews for that single chapter. YOU ALL ARE AMAZING! I am so greatful that anyone would actually want to read my story and with all the feedback I'm getting it's incredible. So thank you for reading…I hope you enjoy the rest of this story. **

_As she closed the door she turned towards the stairs across from Mark's apartment. There sitting at the top of the steps with his back towards Mark's door was Jake._

Miley looked at him in complete shock. She was a mess emotionally and physically and really as much as she cared about Jake now wasn't perfect timing.

Jake turned around to face her when he heard the door close. He smiled softly. "Can I…I mean…can we talk for just a minute. I know today has been probably the longest day of you life but just a minute?" He asked his face still holding sadness.

Miley nodded and gestured down the hall towards her own apartment. Whatever Jake had to say to her she didn't want Mark to hear any of it.

When Miley shut the door behind both of them she turned to Jake. "Did you…did you hear us in there?" She asked her eyes not being able to take her eyes off the floor.

Jake looked at her with shame in his eyes and nodded. "I…I didn't really mean too. I mean I just came back to give you this." He said handing her a bag with her clothes from the day before in them. "But then I heard what you two were talking about…and I…I couldn't walk away." He said with a pleading look on his face begging Miley to believe him.

" I'm so sorry Miley. Please. Please forgive me…it's none of my business at all. I shouldn't have done it and I hate myself for listening in." He said with his head down.

He looked incredibly flustered as he started pacing back and forth across the floor. "I know…I really don't have ANY right but…I've just been feeling…. I mean these past two days were so amazing and I just…" He stammered slowly brining his eyes to meet hers. "I just needed to know if your breakup…if it could possibly mean that there might still be a chance….for us. I just…I just can't bear not knowing…it's just too painful." He said so softly that Miley barely heard him.

Miley saw the desperation in his eyes and melted. She should be mad about what he had done. Actually she should be furious. But she wasn't. She imagined what she would feel like being in love with Jake and having to watch him with someone else.

Miley was overcome. She knew she didn't have it in her emotionally at the moment to really tell him and show him how she felt about him. That would have to wait….until she had recovered a bit form the emotional torture she'd gone through today. And until she didn't feel like it would be cheating on Mark to do something about it.

So she looked at Jake, the pain of having to ask her that question hanging in his every gesture. She walked towards him and put her arms around his waist looking up into his handsome face. He immediately countered putting his arms around her waist as well. She gave him a small smile. "I want there to be an us…I want it more than I can tell you…but…I need a little more time…" She said resting her head against his shoulder.

There being held against him she felt all the ups and downs of the past two days hit her. The tears were now flowing freely and she could barely speak. "I mean I just broke up with Mark about 30 seconds ago and I'm exhausted from everything that happened today…and I don't want to be one of those girls who just goes from guy to guy…." She said rambling away her problems. Jake held her even tighter until all the tears stopped and she looked him in the eyes. He raised her head to his and told her with a delicate and soft kiss that he would always be there to support her.

Miley smiled up at him. The color seemed to return to his face as she did so. He looked down at her with all the love he had for her clear in his eyes. He rubbed her cheek gently. "I'll give you whatever time you need." He said sincerely. Then realizing he might be able to lighten the mood he added, "But uh…" He started to say smiling broadly now. "If you decide later that you've had enough time…just give me a call." He finished his eyes sparkling with mischief.

She smiled and playfully hit him across the shoulder. "I think it will take me more than a few minutes to recover from all this." She said honestly. She looked at him pointedly. "What do you say if we wait and go out next weekend? That will give me time to recuperate and will put a little distance between me and Mark …and me and you."

Jake laughed to himself. "Well…I guess if I can wait a decade a week won't kill me."

He let Miley go and turned towards the door placing his hand on the knob. He leaned in and kissed the top of Miley's head closing his eyes tightly loving the feeling of her skin beneath his lips. He couldn't wait until he could do that all the time. He knew it wouldn't be long.

"Goodnight Miley."

She looked at him and already felt warm all over just from being in his arms and the soft chaste kisses he had given her. She already couldn't wait until next weekend. For the first time in a long time she was looking forward on her life and enjoying what she thought it would bring.

"Goodnight." She said thinking that tonight would be the first of many good nights yet to come.

**Ok—Before you all condemn me for not having this be a great opportunity for Miley and Jake to get together I just couldn't do it. After writing 4 really emotion filled chapters I felt like Miley (and I) would need some sort of emotional break before really being able to let herself go with Jake in a way that will hopefully make you all happy. Ok now you can berate me all you like… either way PLEASE REVIEW!!!!**


	20. Chapter 19

**Hey Guys-**

**Well thank you for not hating me for that last chapter. I was afraid that some of you might have jumped ship but hopefully not. Anyway I'm posting 2 chapters tonight..they're not really long but I hope you enjoy them. If you get a chance review both if you can. **

**THANKS!**

The next few days went slightly differently than Miley had originally planned. She and Mark had talked a bit more and although it wasn't what he wanted he still respected Miley's decision not to date anymore.

So she spent her time trying to relax and clear her mind. She took bubble baths, tried reading some books she had been putting off but really nothing seemed to work…no matter what she tried she just ended up daydreaming about Jake.

It's not like she really minded thinking about him….actually it was one of her favorite pastimes but since she had told him she had needed a week to recuperate she hadn't seen or heard from him. She knew he was probably just respecting her wishes but she was under a little bit of emotional stress when she had said it…what on earth did she know?

The worst part of it was that she hadn't even had any excuses to go and see him at work either. Kevin had taken a few days off to be with Jenna and Ryan and so Jake had taken over much of the directing duties that remained for the end of the movie. They were shooting the few remaining scenes that didn't involve Jake and Miley so that when Kevin returned they would be ready to shoot the finale.

Miley was secretly proud of Jake's accomplishments as an actor. He had directed several of his tv shows and helped produce his last movie with Kevin. So now he was as much a natural behind the camera as he was in front of it.

That being said she still hated the fact that he wasn't around anymore. She missed the feeling of his arms being around her. She missed talking to him and seeing him smile. Ok…she just plain missed him!

So for the most part she was so completely and utterly bored that she had actually reorganized her closet to coordinate everything by color and by clothing type and cleaned nearly everything else. She figured it was a good thing that she had cleaned since Lilly would be there later that day. She just hoped that her blonde friend would be enough of a distraction to keep her from thinking about Jake too much.

Jake sat at home looking at his cell phone on the table. He just wanted to call her and talk. He had missed her more than he thought possible the last few days. He thought that his life had been much easier not knowing that she wanted to be with him than it was knowing she thought they had a chance. Now it was like knowing you were going to get exactly what you wanted for Christmas and having to wait an entire week to open the damn box. It was driving him slightly crazy.

When Kevin had called and asked if he would help out on the movie he had jumped at the chance. At least it had given him something to do. Unfortunately for him though the distraction didn't last too long. The scenes he had helped film were boring fillers to move the plot along from one major scene to the other. They hadn't been difficult and they had finished everything now except the finale which would have to wait for Kevin to return.

And now…now he had nothing to do but sit at home and think about her. And think about her he had. He couldn't help himself. It seemed like everything in his house reminded him of her. He kept looking out the windows and instead of seeing what was really there he would see how beautiful she looked eating breakfast out in the garden. Even sitting on the couch now could make him crazy because eventually he would think about how ridiculously good it had felt to wake up with her holding onto him in that very spot. God he'd give anything to feel that again.

He wanted…no he needed to talk to her again. He sat with his head in his hands not being able to imagine how she had gotten him so crazy about her again.

That was of course the exact moment that the phone rang. He picked it up before the first ring finished. He didn't recognize the number but he answered anyway.

"Hello?"

The person on the other end of the line introduced themselves.

"Lilly??" Jake exclaimed not being able to control his astonishment.

**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!**


	21. Chapter 20

**Here's the second chapter for tonight. Don't you feel loved? **

Miley was waiting outside the baggage terminal for Lilly. Before she even caught sight of her friend she was whisked up into a tight hug and nearly suffocated by a mass of blonde hair.

"Lilly. It's great to see you too…but you're chocking me!" Miley got out really not being able to breathe much.

Lilly let go quickly. She had already found her bags since her flight had gotten in a bit early.

They talked most of the way to Miley's apartment, Lilly telling her all the news from back home. Miley hated not having seen her dad and yes even Jackson for nearly 6 months. It was hard but now that she and Mark weren't going to be going on their vacation anymore she thought she might have some time off to go home and visit or maybe take them on a little trip when she got back. Oliver was still planning on coming to visit at the end of the month so she was looking forward to the three of them having a great time together. Smiling to herself she hoped that maybe they would be a happy foursome by that point.

By the time they arrived at Miley's apartment Lilly had barely let Miley say anything so she had yet to tell her about her and Mark or even more importantly about her and Jake.

Miley opened the door and for a moment Lilly was speechless. "This place is amazing."

Miley smiled. "It is isn't it?" Miley commented feeling good again about living in a chic apartment in Paris.

Lilly plopped her suitcase by the couch and sat down with a plop her awe erased by a need for tourism. "Alright… whereto first? I was thinking maybe the Louvre or how about the Eiffel Tower? Oh no! I know. There's that one museum our art history prof used to talk about all the time. The orange! Yeah let's go there."

Miley looked at her like she had two heads. "You want to go now??? Didn't you just get off a nearly all day plane ride? Aren't you tired?"

Lilly shrugged and looked at her watch. It was 3:00 in the afternoon Paris time but she had slept the entire way there. "My body had no idea what time zone it's on and since you're shooting again later this week I wanted to see some sights before getting left all alone again." She said jutting her lip out and looking at her with her biggest puppy dog eyes.

Miley caved. "Alright. Let me get a jacket and we'll go see your orange museum."

They arrived at the Musee de l'Orangerie a half hour later and bought their tickets. Lilly's eye's seemed to be darting around everywhere at the entrance. Miley gave the coat check girl their things. All of a sudden she heard her best friend squeal in delight as she ran and nearly toppled someone near the door.

"Jake! I'm so glad you came!" Lilly exclaimed.

Jake put her back on the ground and looked at her perplexed. "Of course I came. I told you that when you.."

"Miley! I hope you don't mind I invited Jake to join us." Lilly exclaimed slightly nervously.

Had Miley been in her right mind she would have wanted to know exactly how Lilly had gotten Jake's number or why she had invited him to go with them the very first hours that she was there with them in Paris. But she wasn't in her right mind. Just the sight of Jake after a few days absence had given her Goosebumps. He looked amazing as always and his eyes were nearly overflowing with that sparkle that they had just for her. He came over and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. "Yeah Miley. I hope you don't mind that I joined you." He said softly again not seeing anyone but her.

God had she missed him. She was thinking she should make sure to buy Lilly a nice big welcoming gift for having been so thoughtful. She smiled brightly at him. "I uh…no I don't mind." She said still feeling warm all over from the kiss on the cheek he had given her. She could tell she was blushing and she liked it. It felt new and familiar all over again.

Lilly smirked as she watched them. Thinking to herself she felt as if this was almost too easy.

Jake brought himself out of his Miley induced trance and made the motion for the two ladies to lead the way.

They walked around the upstairs of the museum for nearly an hour. It was small but had amazing pieces. In the states Miley could only remembering ever seeing one or two Picasso's or a Matisse in the museums she had been too, but here it looked like everything was one of the masterpieces that she had learned about in college.

Lilly and Jake seemed to pick up right where they had left off. Jake was teasing her about liking Oliver and Lilly was making fun of some of his not so brilliant movie lines. Miley joined in from time to time but mostly she enjoyed being with the two of them and seeing how easily they fell into being friends again. She had thought that the ease with which she had come to treat Jake had been because of her strong feelings for him but now she saw that even good friends would always be that way despite time or distance. She felt happy seeing her friends together again.

As they made their way to the basement Lilly excused herself to go the bathroom. As they entered the room Miley nearly stopped dead in her tracks. She couldn't believe the pieces of art that she was seeing. There on all 4 walls of the oval shaped room were some of the most enormous canvases she could ever remember seeing. Each wall held a single painting by Claude Monet and each was a slightly different depiction of the water lilly's in his garden in Giverny. Miley had always loved Monet's paintings, they way they seemed to capture in color the way that a perfect day could make you feel. But this…this was beyond painting a picture.

Jake had taken her hand and she had gladly accepted it. They walked along the gallery slowly taking it all in. Miley was breathing slowly. "I…I wish I could sing like this." She said to Jake.

Jake smiled and looked at the gorgeous woman next to him. He knew exactly what she meant. The paintings were so far beyond beautiful and yet even here in this immense gallery they were extremely personal. Looking at them and the way that the color seemed to capture the scenes in the most perfect moment of twilight he thought that this is what a person in love sees of the world around them. He smiled to himself realizing just how true it was. Standing there with Miley the world and everything in it had never seemed so alive with possibility or beauty than it did right then with her hand in his. And she had brought him that. Before he hadn't really been seeing anything. Bun now…now he could see just how wide and wonderful the real world could be.

They sat on the bench in the middle of the room just looking at one of the paintings. Miley laid her head upon his shoulder. Jake leaned his head towards hers. "I've heard you sing like this." He said gesturing towards the paintings on the walls. "It's when you think you're alone and you close your eyes and you just let the songs escape. That's when you sing like this." He said looking again at the paintings. "That's when you make those lucky people listening feel everything that you're singing about."

Miley looked at him and saw the sincerity in his eyes. She loved how Jake understood her and saw things in her that she herself could never see. She sighed happily and placed her head back on Jake's shoulder. At that moment she wished she had Monet's abilities so that she could capture in a painting all the love and happiness that she was feeling right at that exact moment… just sitting there on a bench… with Jake.

**Sorry if this one's too artsy for some of you but my mom's an Art teacher so all of my trips anywhere involve art museums and the L'Orangerie is one of my all-time favorites. If you like paintings with color or Monet's in general it's a must see. PLEASE REVIEW IF YOU HAVE A SECOND!!! Thanks.**


	22. Chapter 21

**Hey Guys-**

**Sorry this one's not too long but I wanted to post something soon. I'm going to try and post a long chapter later tonight. But just to warn you today's posts might be the last for the next few weeks. We're moving and there is no internet at the new house. So as much as I hate it…that might be how it is for a little while. I'll try my best but hang in there. I tried to see if I could finish this before the move but it's just not going to happen. Anyway enjoy and review. **

After Jake Lilly and Miley left the museum Lilly announced that she was tired and ready for a nap. Everyone had accepted that this was probably true but Jake couldn't help but notice how much of a fight Lilly had put up to try to get Miley to stay out with Jake and have dinner. After losing that battle the three parted company with Miley and Lilly returning to her apartment.

Miley couldn't help smiling most of the way home thinking about Jake. They hadn't done anything spectacular but she had still had an amazing time just being with him.

As they walked up the stairs of her apartment building they passed Mark's apartment quickly bringing Miley out of her Jake induced haze. She inwardly cringed at herself. She still hadn't told Lilly about her and Mark's breakup. And as much as she didn't want to relive that part of the last week she knew she should tell Lilly.

"Lilly I…I want to tell you something." Miley said seriously when they both plopped themselves on Miley's couch.

"What's wrong?" Lilly asked sensing that something was wrong.

"I…I just thought you should know..that Mark and I…well…we're not together anymore." Miley waited for Lilly to offer her condolences or act sad that someone who she had become friends with would no longer be in their lives. But instead Lilly just waved it off. "God Miley you really scared me. I thought you were going to tell me something really serious!" She said with a small laugh.

Miley was floored.

"Uh…Helllo? I just told you I broke up with the guy I'd been seeing for a year and a half…the guy you thought might ask me to marry him I might add…and that's all I get?" Miley said gesturing wildly with the pillows she was holding in her hands.

Lilly just shrugged. "Well…no offense or anything but I kinda saw that one coming."

Miley was even more shocked. "WHAT? How did you see that coming?"

Lilly sighed and looked at her friend. "Come on Miles. I haven't been your best friend for ages not to know SOME things about you. And yes…I might have thought that you and Mark might become more serious here in Paris but that was before I had all the information."

Miley was still riled up about her friends lack of emotion about the breakup. 'What do you mean all the information?"

Lilly gave Miley a smug smile. "That was before I knew Jake was back in the picture."

Miley just looked at Lilly with her mouth open so Lilly thought she should continue.

"Miley come on. I knew that you and Mark wouldn't work out the second you told me that Jake was here and single. I mean yeah I encouraged you and Mark to be together before because I could see that Mark made you happy…. but you haven't been yourself…really yourself since Jake left and there was just no way that Mark could have competed with that." Lilly said with a knowing look in her eyes.

"Not to mention the fact that since you've been here I've barely heard two words about dear old Mark…it was always you and Jake had done this…or you and Jake weren't speaking anymore and it killed you."

"And…I think from today's outing it's perfectly obvious that he's still as much in love with you as he ever was." She said now smiling widely.

Miley looked at her friend with a smile on her face. "So you saw this one coming a mile away huh?"

Lilly just continued to grin. "Yep…you can ask Oliver. After that first time you called and told me about Jake I told him Mark was a goner."

Miley was smiling but acting a little indignantly. "So why didn't you tell me that when I called you and asked for advice huh?"

Lilly looked at her friend knowingly. "I think when it comes to realizing that you never actually fell out of love with your high school sweetheart…that's something you have to do by yourself don't you? But thank god we weren't placing bets or anything because Oliver, Jackson and I all thought you two would have gotten together WAY before now." Lilly said in that blunt manner that only Lilly could bring."

Miley let out an agitated breath of air. "My family is betting on if me and Jake are getting back together?"

Lilly again laughed not really realizing that this was agitating Miley. "No silly. No one would have taken the bet on IF you were to get together….we were all just wondering WHEN."

Miley could only laugh slightly at Lilly's comments. Her family had seen what she had been trying to ignore for 6 months… that she and Jake had never really stopped caring about each other.

Lilly got excited again. "So….have you two….you know…gotten back together? You looked awful chummy today."

Miley blushed slightly. 'No…we're not officially together. Mark and I only split up 3 days ago and I told Jake that I wanted to give ourselves a week before anything happened…you know… out of respect. But… you have no idea how hard it is not to kiss that boy!" Miley said forcefully laying herself down on the couch.

Lilly smiled widely and looked at her. "Um…Miles. I do remember high school. You NEVER seemed to be able to avoid kissing him then!" Lilly said with a laugh.

Miley took aim and threw her pillow at her best friend. It felt good to be talking about someone like this again.

Lilly's face sobered. "Well then I guess I should apologize to you. I shouldn't have called Jake today and asked him to join us if you were trying to keep your distance this week."

Miley jolted upright. "NO! I mean… well….I didn't really mind…you know that much…I mean we hadn't seen each other since I broke up with Mark and it was good to you know make sure he was still ok and things."

Lilly looked at her shaking her head. "You missed him like crazy didn't you?"

"Oh God yes." Miley said flopping back on the couch clutching the pillow.

Lilly smiled at her dazed friend. She hadn't seen her this worked up about anyone….well….since Jake. It made her feel good inside to see it. She knew that despite everything that had been amazing in Miley's life…that she had been lonely for a very long time. She hoped that Jake and Miley would finally be able to give each other that unmistakable happiness that had been missing from both of their lives.

Miley sat back up and looked at Lilly seriously still holding her pillow. "I'm….I'm kinda scared Lils."

Lilly looked at her questioningly. "What do you have to be scared of?"

Miley stood up and walked to the balcony doors and looked out of them. "What if I risk everything and he breaks my heart." She said softly.

Lilly went to meet her friend at the window. "Love is always a risk Miles but…you just have to decide if Jake is worth that risk."

Miley hugged her best friend. "I'm really glad you're here…you know that."

Lilly smiled back. "Of course you are….I'm brilliant…I'm fun…and if I'm around you and Jake can see as much of each other as you like without it looking….well inappropriate." She said with a mischievous smile on her face.

Miley's eyes held the same mischevious look in them. "Exactly."

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	23. Chapter 22

**Hey Guys-**

**Here's another one before I have to sort of put this on hiatus while moving. I will try and update but it probably won't be until after the 14****th****. I hope you like it. **

The next few days for Jake had been good but a little frustrating. He, Miley and Lilly had spent a lot of time together seeing some of the sights, trying out new restaurants and getting to know one another. It was great…especially since Lilly would miraculously disappear for long periods of time so that he and Miley could be alone but nothing had really happened between them yet. He knew she was right to want to put at least a little distance between her last relationship and her next one.

Jake smiled to himself at just the thought that he would get to be a part of that relationship. He wasn't going to let an opportunity like this pass him by. He already knew he loved her. He just wanted the chance to show her how much she meant to him and hopefully make her a fraction as happy as she made him.

Jake walked onto the set and saw everyone busy getting ready to start shooting the finale today. He saw Lilly and Miley talking to Kevin as if they were old friends and smirked. He knew that Lilly's inviting him to the art museum a few days ago had been orchestrated by Kevin. It was obvious that Miley had no idea he would be there and since Jake's number was very much unlisted there was only one other meddling person who would go to such lengths to get him and Miley to spend time together. Not that he was complaining. As long as he and Kevin had similar goals he'd let him meddle as much as he wanted.

He sighed. Today would be a lot of work but it would also be fun. They were shooting the first part of the finale so there would be lots of extras and he couldn't wait to see what dress they had picked out for Miley to wear. He smiled to himself. That was definitely his favorite perk so far.

An hour later Kevin had everyone in position. Jake would be walking through the ballroom out onto one of the large balconies of the mansion to find Miley. In the background the extras and other characters would be dancing but he and Miley would be alone and he would ask her to dance on their secluded balcony. Jake thought the idea had merit. Plus since he and Miley had learned how to dance for this role it was always fun taking her in his arms.

Jake was fitted into his classical tuxedo. The women in the wardrobe department had made sure that it was perfect.

Kevin called places. The lights on the ballroom were bright and they were playing music for the dancers to keep time. Jake was still standing at one end of the large ballroom away from where he would find Miley.

"Action."

Jake let the role take him as he always did. He slowly wandered around the outside of the dancers making it obvious that he was searching for one single person. The room was packed so looking around meant weaving and excusing yourself a lot. Yet he never kept his eyes off the ballroom. Then he looked over to his next mark and saw her slight figure on the large balcony on the other side of the room. He smiled to himself. Even in the shadows he knew she was beautiful.

He made his way over to the balcony sweeping aside the large draperies that had half shielded her from view. He stopped when he saw her. He now knew what breathtaking really meant. She was gorgeous standing and looking out over the gardens that they had talked in in their first meeting in Paris. She had her back to him and even that was making him light headed. Her beautiful emerald green gown was cut low showing off her incredible and smooth back and shoulders. Her hair was all drawn in an intricate setting at the nape of her neck. It was loose and flowy and you could still make out her signature waves.

Jake sucked in his breath remembering what it was he had to do. They had lowered the music so that it was just part of the background. He slowly walked up behind her and placed his hand at the small of her back leaning in he said his one line. "Dance with me."

She turned around and he immediately forgot everything he was supposed to do. The green dress made her blue eyes darken to an almost sapphire color. The lights were dim around them. He could see her blush as he offered her his hand to dance with him. Somehow she ended up in his arms and he was slowly dancing around the balcony with her. She was still flushed and intentionally avoiding his gaze.

Then slowly she brought her head up reaching her full height and looked him in the eyes. He was lost in them. He slowed his dancing. She matched his movements. Neither being able to break from the other. Neither aware of anyone else in the world. Miley stepped even closer to Jake still dancing incredibly slowly neither taking their eyes away from the other. Jake felt his heart race in contrast to the slow and delicate pace of their movements. He moved closer and slowed the dancing even more. He stopped and just looked at her for a brief moment. Not thinking, not acting, he brought his hand up to her cheek and touched it as lightly as he could bringing her head to his and gently tasting her lips.

The second their lips touched he pulled back a fraction of an inch breathing heavily and opened his eyes. Her eyes fluttered open and held a dull color full of desire. She tilted her head slightly and met his lips again needing to taste him again. The hold that they had on their self control was lessening as they kissed each other more deeply. Jake continued to break the kiss every few seconds and recapture her lips with his finding new ways of bringing the two of them even closer and making the white hot explosions that he felt along his skin intensify with each kiss. They were no longer in the middle of a mansion with 30 people watching them. They were both kids again kissing their first love with everything that they had to give.

Miley pressed her body into Jakes relishing the feeling of his strong arms around her. He had given her goosebumps. His lips were so sweet that Miley was dying to stay attached to them and taste them forever. She needed him. She loved him. She loved him with everything in her heart. She knew it was never a choice to fall in love with Jake. She had always loved him.

She felt her heart race and her fingers tingle just running her hands along his arms as he held her head close to his. She reached up and tangled her arms around his neck bringing her as close to him as humanly possible. He kept kissing her incredibly slowly and it took every ounce of willpower she had not to let the moans she was feeling escape her lips. Finally Jake held onto her lips for a few more tantalizing seconds and pulled away. They separated only inches from each others faces. They both opened their eyes slowly letting the rest of their surroundings come back to them.

Miley's eyes adjusted to the artificial lights that were around them. She heard Kevin with a voice not totally his own say "cut." She smiled and blushed realizing for the first time since she saw Jake that everyone had been watching them. The flushed look on the faces of the rest of the crew told her that the kiss had looked nearly as hot as it had felt. She giggled slightly as she saw two of the sound girls actually fanning themselves. Jake was smiling too. He brought her into a tight hug and the onlookers began applauding. Neither of them could stop smiling.

Jake looked up to see Kevin with his eyebrows raised and a huge grin on his face. Hey weren't meant to do their kiss today but he was sure Kevin would be happy with that take. Jake just looked at him with happiness in his eyes and gave Miley a loving kiss on her forehead.

Kevin smiled and decided to break up the onlookers. "Alright. That's a wrap everyone. Be back here tomorrow….bright and early."

Miley placed her hand in Jake's and led him to the bedroom of the house that had been setup as her personal dressing room. As soon as she shut the door she sat him on the counter next to the door and kissed him again with everything that was in her. The kiss was passionate and furious. He responded with equal enthusiasm. After a long moment of entwining themselves Miley untangled herself and leaned her forehead against his breathing deeply. 'I'm in love with you Jake Ryan."

Jake stood and looked at her seriously. "I've always loved you." He leaned down and kissed her again whispering everything she needed to know about him in between their tender kisses. He told her that he loved her, he told her that it was her and only her that could do this to him and finally he told her that this…this feeling between them …was forever.

**Well I hope you enjoyed that. I didn't spend quite as much time as I would have liked on it but I wanted to post it before I lost internet access. I will get back to this as soon as I can but don't expect much until after the 14****th****. But PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!**


	24. Chapter 23

**Hey Guys-**

**I'm back…well sort of. I won't be able to update every day since we're still really busy with moving but it won't be any really long breaks like before. And as a bonus for waiting so long I'm posting 2 chapters tonight. I hope you enjoy them! And keep reviewing. I'm thinking we'll get to over 300 by the end of this story. That's right you heard me 300! I can't even believe it myself. You all are AWESOME!!!!!**

Miley couldn't believe how nervous she felt. She was going on a date….a real date with Jake. She couldn't seem to shake the tingling sensation she got in her stomach every time she thought about it. Even though they had both admitted their feelings for each other yesterday during their heated scene and afterwards Miley still wanted to make a good impression. She and Lilly had been shopping all day and had finally found the perfect dress. It was a short silk navy blue belted sheath dress. Miley had her hair in a pony tail making the dress slightly more casual since she didn't want to seem like she was trying too hard….even though she was.

Lilly looked at her friend and couldn't help but smiling. She could tell that Miley was nervous since she had put on about 30 different dresses today and hadn't been satisfied with any of them. Lilly couldn't help but laugh inside. She knew that Miley could wear a potato sack with raddish earings and Jake's eyes would still pop out of his head when he saw her. He hadn't had eyes for anyone else since high school so she really couldn't tell why her best friend was so nervous about impressing someone who was already head over heals for her.

Miley noticied Lilly in the mirror and turned to look at her.

She smiled a small nervous smile. "I'm overdoing it aren't I?"

Lilly smiled back and came and sat down on her bed. "A little. But if it's any consolation I think that Jake's going to have a heart attack when he sees you in that." Lilly said smiling.

Miley was smiling and staring off in to space obviously imagining Jake's reaction when he saw her.

Miley turned back and noticed that she had gotten some makeup on the collar of her new dress.

"Oh no! I smudged it." She turned quickly in a small panic and knocked over half the bottles on her vanity including her perfume.

"Oh GOD!" She yelled.

Lilly there in an instant. She picked up the bottles keeping them from spilling any further and took Miley by the hands. She sat her down on the bed and took a tissue and carefully removed the smudge of makeup that was on the dress. Miley was still breathing heavily and looking flustered.

Lilly had never seen her friend like this before. She had sang in front of thousands, and been in major motion pictures but her hair and makeup for a date with her high school boyfriend were turning her into a bumbling idiot.

"Miley. You have to calm down. It's just Jake. You're starting to remind me….well of me."

Miley collapsed onto the bed. "That's just the problem. It's JAKE!" "He's just so…and I'm so…and what if we can't do this? I mean what happens in a week when filming stops? I don't even know if he's got another movie waiting to take him away again. I….I just…"

Lilly sat down and hugged her friend. "Miles. Look at me."

Miley turned and looked at her friend. She seemed nervous and scared.

Lilly looked at her and smiled. "Now a good friend once told me that being in love was really really hard. She told me that it's also the most amazing and rewarding thing that could happen to a person and that if I really loved someone that I should do whatever it takes to make it work."

"Do you remember telling me that?" Lilly asked seriously.

Miley smiled to herself remembering giving Lilly that advice about love their senior year of high school when Lilly was worried about what would happen to her and Oliver going off to college.

Miley nodded at Lilly and looked down at her hands in sadness. "I remember." "I also remember feeling like such a hypocrite saying it since I had let the one person I had really loved leave my life without a fight."

Lilly looked at her. "And now that person is back. And you have a second chance. Most people never get that second chance Miles. So don't let yourself worry yourself out of something really really amazing."

Miley took a deep breath and let it go. 'You're right. I should just enjoy myself."

Lilly laughed. "Well from what happened yesterday I'd say you already know how to do that."

Miley smirked and slapped her best friend on the shoulder.

"Ouch." Lilly said pretending that it hurt her.

Before Lilly could retort there was a knock on the door.

Miley got up excitedly and went to open the door.

When she opened it she took in a breath. There was Jake looking more amazing that she had ever remembered seeing him. He wore a charcoal grey suit with the jacket opened and a gorgeous white dress shirt with the top few buttons opened casually. The suit looked like it was made just for him as it almost certainly was. The monochromatic nature of the look seemed to make his blue green eyes stand out even more as he smiled at her confidently.

Jake couldn't believe how beautiful Miley looked. The navy dress she wore was stunning and her hair as always looked as if it was just begging for him to run his hands through it. He liked that she had put it up. He hoped he would be able to take advantage of the situation later this evening and spend some time kissing that delicate neck of hers.

"You look amazing." Jake said huskily as he walked forward and put his arms around her waist.

Miley blushed attractively and put her arms around Jake's neck enjoying the electrifying feeling she was getting from flirting with him in the open.

"What? Oh this old thing?" She said looking down at her dress. "It's just something that I had in the back of my…" She didn't get a chance to finish. 

Jake had just kissed her. She couldn't remember enjoying getting interrupted more than at that particular moment.

"…closet." She said softly standing there with her eyes still closed as Jake pulled away.

Jake smiled. He loved being able to affect her like that. She was one of the strongest and most amazing women he had ever met but she could be so warm and gentle too. She was everything he had ever found sexy in a woman wrapped into one incredible package.

He smiled at her and placed his forehead on hers. "Sorry about that, but I've been dying to do that again ever since yesterday."

She smiled slyly at him. "Well…I guess I didn't mind…too much." She said looking mischievous and leaning in to kiss him again.

Lilly took the opportunity to come out of the bedroom to say hi to Jake. She looked at the two of them wrapped up in each others arms and smiled smugly. She crossed her arms. "Hem hem. Don't you think most people do that AFTER their first date?"

Jake and Miley broke apart and smiled at each other. Jake just looked over at Lilly with his arms around Miley's waist. "Don't worry Lilly. I'll make sure to do it again after our date…you know…just to make you happy."

Miley smiled warmly at Jake who had taken her hand in his. "Let's get out of hear ok?"

Jake just smiled. "Goodnight Lilly."

Lilly had tuned on the tv and didn't even turn to say goodbye. "Night Jakers….be good!"

"So where exactly are you taking me?" Miley asked as they got in Jake's car.

Jake smiled at her and took her hand in his as he pulled away. "Well…since I know you want to keep this low profile for awhile I figured we'd go to this cozy little place I know."

Miley snuggled down into the plush leather seats and closed her eyes loving the feeling of Jake's hand in hers. As she did so all of the nervousness that she had felt earlier seemed to leave her. She couldn't even remember the reason for her frantic behavior. It felt so good and so right being here with him that despite being half way around the world in a place where she barely understood the language…she felt like this was home.

**I know that this is really just filler and that there there is another chapter waiting but PLEASE REVIEW THIS ONE! The only reason that I write these is for the feedback so PLEASE just click the button!**


	25. Chapter 24

**Look see….I wasn't lying. Two chapters tonight. I hope you enjoy them. It will take a few days for the next one but be patient. I won't give up on this story until it's done. Thank you all for all your reviews and your faithful readership! It means A LOT!**

Before she knew it Jake was stopping the car and getting out. He came to her door and helped her out of the car.

Miley looked around. "Jake…this is your house."

Jake smiled. "Exactly….small…cozy…just like I said."

Miley smiled at him. He led her into the house by the hand. It smelled incredible. He led her through the hallway past the kitchen and out to the door leading to the garden. "How about you go out there and make yourself comfortable and I'll get some of the food ready." He said and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. He took off his jacket and went back into the kitchen.

Miley happily did as she was told and went to the garden. There the large table had been replaced by a small coffee table and a comfortable outdoor couch. The table was set very intimately for two people with a bottle of wine already opened and ready to be poured. The most impressive part of the transformation was the lanterns that Jake had hung around the patio and out into the garden. It looked amazing. From far away it looked like the garden sparkled with tiny fire light but up close it had a warm glow to it, faintly illuminating the flowers in the garden and the comfortable dinner area. Jake had a small pond at one end of the garden with small fish and lilly pads and he had even illuminated it with nearly a dozen floating candles.

Miley walked towards the pond enjoying watching the fish swim around in the faint glow of the candlelight. She took off her small healed shoes and dipped her toe in the water. It was cool and refreshing in the summer evening and as Miley wrapped her arms around herself she felt as if this was one of the most beautiful nights she could remember.

Soon she heard a clanking of dishes on the table and knew that Jake had brought out the food he had made for them but she didn't move. Instead she enjoyed feeling the grass between her toes and looking out on the lighted garden. Soon a strong pair of arms were encircling her waist from behind. She leaned into Jake relishing in the contact.

"It's beautiful Jake." Was all she said still looking out at the spectacle before her.

Jake smiled at his own handiwork. He did like the way the garden looked tonight but all of it paled in comparison to how Miley looked standing there with him. "You're the beautiful one." He said and gave her a soft kiss on the nape of her neck.

Miley shuddered at the touch of his lips to her neck. The contact was igniting her skin in a way that made most thought completely impossible. She tilted her head slightly giving him room to continue the soft line of kisses up her neck. If he continued like this she knew she wouldn't be able to hold onto her self control for very long. Luckily as he reached the spot behind her ear he seemed to think that they should at least have dinner before continuing any further as he stopped the kisses and took her hand leading her back to the table.

Miley breathed in deeply when the reached the table. Everything about the dinner spelled Jake. Nothing was too traditional, or too simple. Everything was special and all of it was for her. She went to the table where there was a vase of beautiful white peonies near her plate. It smelled wonderful and sweet making her feel even more like she was enjoying the perfect dream of a date instead of the actual reality of one.

The food before her looked and smelled incredible. There was bread and a warm baked dip with spinach and artichokes, a simple salad with slivers of apples and walnuts and a baked chicken dish with rice and a cream sauce that made her mouth literally water. It looked like he had spent hours cooking and preparing the garden for her. She loved how much effort he had put into everything.

Miley left her shoes off and sat with her legs tucked underneath her next to Jake. He stood and poured them both glasses of wine. Before he could serve them up any food Miley had taken his head with her hands and kissed him passionately.

Her lips felt so soft on his he couldn't help but feel charged each time they took a breath and kissed again. While still kissing Jake managed to scoop her up and bring her to his lap. Finally after sufficiently making Jake lightheaded Miley broke the kiss.

Jake looked up at her into her gorgeous blue eyes. "What was that for? Not….that I'm complaining or anything…I just want to know so I can do whatever it was that deserved that again." He said with his face still fully flushed.

Miley looked at him not believing that he couldn't see how special he really was. "Jake. No one goes to this kind of trouble for a first date. Especially not people like you…who could literally have any woman that they wanted."

Jake brought his head to hers. "That's just it Miley. I don't want just any woman. I want you." He said softly and kissed her again passionately.

Eventually after a very long dinner filled with breaks involving holding one another and kissing each other until they had forgotten about most of the food on the table they managed to finish their meal. Miley decided to take in the plates for the both of them since Jake had already done so much.

She went into the kitchen and put the plates in the sink still feeling flushed from her last heated bout of kissing with Jake and grabbed a second bottle of wine. Next to the sink on the counter was a plain manila folder with the words travel arrangements written on it. Her heart dropped.

Up until that moment she had done what she had told Lilly and had just enjoyed herself this evening and not thought about what was going to happen in a week or so when shooting was finally finished. But obviously Jake would be going somewhere…doing something. She couldn't lose him again.

Jake came in behind her with the extra dishes. He put them on the counter and noticed the sad look in her eyes. He went up to her and lifted her eyes to his. "What is it?"

Miley looked down at the counter again and pointed at the folder. "I…I just saw those and…I don't know… I guess I just got scared." She said not being able to look him in the eyes.

Jake laughed slightly. "You figured I was leaving again huh?"

Miley just nodded her head sadly.

Jake looked at the beautiful girl in front of him. "Well I was going to wait until after dessert but I guess now is as good a time as any."

He took her hands in his and looked at Miley. "Since I had so much time to think about things this past week trying to ignore how much I wanted to go up and kiss you every spare moment I had…." Jake said sincerely. Miley smiled a little at this.

"I realized that we don't have a lot of time left here in Paris together and I….well I wasn't sure what would happen between us if we tried going back to the states and seeing each other long distance."

Miley just nodded sadly and Jake continued.

"So….I thought since you were so disappointed not to be able to take that trip around Europe that maybe….maybe I could take some time off and we could travel around….together." Jake said nervously looking into the shocked eyes of Miley Stewart.

Jake tightened his hold on her hands and swallowed deeply. "I know that it's soon but I couldn't bear the thought of us leaving here in a week and doing our separate things. I….I don't want that anymore. I can't want that anymore. I just want us to have a chance to be together without work, without tons of fans, without having to figure out when each of us is going to have enough free time to go and visit the other."

The sparks flooded back to Miley's eyes as she looked at Jake in wonder. "You want to go on a trip….a non work trip….with me?" She said biting her lip and trying not to smile too largely.

Jake gave her his shy smile. "Of course I do. I…I'm tired of trying to fit life into my busy work schedule so I thought we could use a clean start. I'll take some time off…we can see this part of the world a little more and then decide where to go from there….together." He said blushing slightly.

"You don't have to make up your mind now of course but I couldn't help doing a little research." Jake said as he handed her the envelope.

Miley opened it and saw a brochure for a gorgeous private yacht trip that sailed around the Mediterranean and the Greek Isles. Jake was standing next to her nervously looking over her shoulder at the brochure and rubbing his hands through his hair.

Jake's words were music to Miley's ears. She had been so afraid that Jake would have some plans already in place for his busy career that she hadn't even had time to think of what she would want to do if that wasn't the case. She couldn't imagine anything better than spending a few weeks together alone figuring out what it was that they wanted in life and from each other. It was more than she had ever hoped for.

She turned around putting her arms around Jake's neck and kissed him. The kiss was slow and deliberate making both her and Jake's heart race at the contact. Jake pulled back and looked at her. "Is that a yes?" He asked with a smile.

Miley bit her lip and nodded. "Yes!" Miley said with enthusiasm hugging Jake as tightly as she could.

She put the envelope on the counter and slowly brought her head back to Jake's. Their slow kissing turned increasingly passionate as everything else in their worlds seemed to disappear. There was no longer any thought of movies, or desert, or even what would happen a few weeks from now. The feelings that they had been bottling up for so long slowly became unleashed as they explored exactly how much they both loved each other.

**READ AND REVIEW!!!!!!**

**Oh and I might also post a little fluffy oneshot tonight that I wrote a LONG time ago…I mean way before To be or not to be Normal. It's not brilliant but if you feel like some Jiley fluff take a look. I think it will be titled Always.**


	26. Chapter 25

Jake dropped Miley off the next morning at her apartment. They spent a good ten minutes in the car saying their "goodbye's" even though they knew they'd see each other later that afternoon at work. Jake was on cloud nine. Nothing could ruin this day, month or even this year at this point. He was too happy.

He arrived on set and immediately went to Kevin's office. He smiled to himself that it was this very office that he had nearly wanted to murder Kevin in a few months ago because he had set up this whole experiment with Jake's heart.

He walked in still smirking and sat down on the chair resting his arms on his knees.

Kevin was there laying on the couch with a cold towel on his forehead. He squinted his eyes at Jake.

"You look way too happy right now. Come back when you can be as miserable as me." He said cringing at the small amount of light that had gotten through to his eyes.

Jake just laughed. "What happened to you?"

Kevin with his eyes still closed laughed miserably. "Ha! Well let's see. First I was up all night with your namesake…he does NOT like to sleep very long….just for your information. Then I came in early to find that oaf of an actor Mark sitting here in my office wanting to whine to me all morning about how sad he is about him and Miley and how he wanted to know if the rumors about you two were true."

Jake sobered a bit. "What rumors?" Jake asked trying to be casual.

Kevin sat up at this still holding the towel to his head. "You ARE kidding me right? You go and kiss her like THAT in the middle of filming and think that there aren't going to be rumors of the two of you together?"

Jake sighed and but then gradually smiled to himself. "It WAS a pretty great kiss though."

Kevin's eyes widened in understanding as he watched the expression on his best friends face. "They're not rumors are they?"

Jake sat up and tried not to smile. "What on earth are you talking about?"

Kevin scooted to the edge of the couch getting excited. "You two are together now aren't you?"

Jake opened his mouth but didn't really know how to answer. Miley had wanted to keep everything quiet still until the Mark thing blew over. "Uh."

Kevin jumped out of his seat throwing the towel across the room. "Hallelujah!" "When did you finally ask her out? God that took long enough! You know you were killing me with all this waiting stuff!"

Jake got up and clamped his hand over his best friend's mouth. "Shhhh….we're trying to keep it quiet….you know that thing that's the opposite of yelling it at the top of your lungs!"

Kevin calmed down a little and Jake removed his hand from his mouth. Jake sat back down in his chair and Kevin seated himself on the couch again.

With a huge smile plastered on his face Kevin asked "So….how is it going?"

Jake just smiled with a special twinkle in his eye. "Amazing."

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Miley opened the door to her apartment, sighed contentedly and flung herself down on the couch. She was completely happy. Lilly walked in still in her pajamas with a cup of coffee and a smirk plastered on her face.

"Well that must have been some first date." Lilly said sarcastically but with happiness in her eyes.

"Unbelievable." Was all Miley could say still staring happily at the ceiling.

"So….does this make it official? Are you and the Zombie Slayer back together again?" Lilly asked sitting on the chair next to Miley and the couch.

Miley sat up and hugged the nearest pillow to her chest and nodded.

Lilly raised her eyebrows at Miley. "So….did you two….you know…get to know each other a little better?"

Miley laughed at slapped Lilly with the pillow. "Lilly! I definitely don't ask you that about Oliver! So I refuse to answer the question!" Miley stammered trying to act indignantly.

Then with a mischievous look in her eyes she turned back to Lilly. "But hypothetically speaking you know….if we did…get to know each other better….it would probably have been incredible!" Miley said with a big smile.

Lilly just got up and gave her friend a big hug. "I'm just glad that you're happy."

Miley got up and nearly danced into the bedroom looking for her robe and shampoo to go and take a shower. She stopped at her dressing table and saw the topaz necklace Jake had given to her the day he told her he loved her. She stood there for a moment caressing it fondly and thinking about the man that she had been with the night before. She closed her eyes and could still feel the gentle kisses that he had placed on her neck and the soft way he had woken her up as she laid in his arms.

Lilly came through into the bedroom and laughed seeing her best friend who had accidentally put on her rain coat instead of her robe. "All I can say is that it's a good thing you two didn't "get to know" each other like that in high school….or else there's no way you would have been able to concentrate enough to graduate." Lilly said smiling pointing out Miley's new getup.

Miley blushed and threw a loofa that was within reach at her friend. Then trying to maintain her dignity she lifted her head and walked into the bathroom raincoat and all.

**Hey Guys-**

**Sorry it's so short but the next one will be longer. I've written about 3 different endings and don't like any of them so I'm still working on it but we are definitely getting close to the end on this one. I can't believe this is chapter 25….how did that happen? Anyway thanks for sticking with it even though this isn't brilliant…**

"**I promise I'll do better next time! Toodles!"**

**READ AND REVIEW!!!!!!!!**


	27. Chapter 26

**Alright there folks- This is a special chapter for me since the last one put this story at over 300 hundred reviews…I honestly can't thank you enough for reading this. I have so many faithful reviewers to thank that I'll try and do a list at the end of the story. So for all of you who've held on and reviewed since the very beginning….this one's for you (and you all know who you are). **

A week later Miley and Jake were holding hands walking down by the Seine enjoying the lights and the sounds of Paris. They had just finished dinner with Lilly and Oliver who had finally made it out to visit with them and now the two couples were spending some time apart…relishing the feeling of being in love in such a magical city.

The summer air was still crisp and the dark veil of nighttime seemed to make the city calmer. There was the slight sound of water lapping along the edge of the river where they walked and the faint glow of lamplight was the only thing illuminating the moonless sky. Miley couldn't believe how things had changed so quickly in her life. A few weeks ago she had been cooped up in her apartment trying to find contentment with working and trying to make love work where there wasn't any. And now…now love was everywhere for her.

Miley looked at Jake as they continued to walk slowly along chatting about their upcoming trip and where they wanted to go. Part of her still couldn't believe that any of this was real…that he was here with her in Paris….and that he loved her….REALLY loved her. It was just too good to be true.

She blushed slightly just thinking about it. He did love her. She could see it in his eyes every time he looked at her, she could feel it in his touch every time he took her hand, and she knew it in her heart every time he spoke the words. She laid her head along his shoulder as they walked along in silence feeling nothing but complete contentment.

Jake smiled down at the brown curls that were now adorning his shoulder. He moved his head slightly and kissed them gently. He had changed so much recently. Where he had always felt guarded and closed off to others he had opened himself up completely to the woman beside him. He had let love come back to him as he allowed himself to remember the feelings that she and no one else could stir in him. He was himself again and he hoped one day he'd be able to make her understand exactly what she meant to him.

Jake felt his phone vibrate and brought it out of his pocket to see a new text from Jenna.

_911-Kevin is trying to COOK! Make it stop! –Jenna_

Jake laughed and showed the text to Miley.

"Do you mind if we pick up some food and drop it off for them?"

Miley smiled brightly. "Of course not! I've been dying to get my hands on that little one again since the hospital. He's just so cute!"

They both laughed and went to find some good takeout.

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Jake and Miley entered the house holding hands as if they'd been together for years. Jake held out the take out containers to Jenna who had opened the door. "Thank GOD!" Jenna hugged him ravenously. Then in Jake's ears she spoke softly. "I think he's actually trying to kill me with what he's trying to cook for us. Please…can't you remind him he has enough money to HIRE someone to cook for us if I'm too tired! Please…you're my last hope." Jenna said with fear and humor in her eyes.

Jake laughed. Jenna and Miley hugged like good friends and had a laugh over the blackened pans Jenna was showing her in the kitchen where Kevin had tried to boil water.

Jenna held Miley out from her and looked her up and down. She leaned into her ear. "You look amazing…has he been good to you?" She asked sincerely.

Miley blushed looking over at Jake. She nodded not being able to express exactly how wonderful Jake had been.

Jenna brought Jake and Miley into the atrium where they had had their first dinner together in Paris. They laid out the take out and Kevin finally entered the room looking exhausted.

Kevin sat at the table without saying anything and put his head down. Speaking directly to the table "He's finally asleep. It only took me 2 hours of bouncing him up and down and bottles and trying to read that bunny story so that my eyes didn't pop out of my head and now he's finally asleep."

He brought his head up and looked at Miley and Jake dressed so perfectly. "if I had the energy I'd make some cheeky remark about you two looking far too flushed to have just been having a nice dinner but I really don't have the energy so hand me the chicken."

Jake laughed at Kevin and then looked at Jenna handing her another box of takeout. "I don't think I've ever seen him so pleasant in my life. I think you two should consider having LOTS of kids."

Miley and Jake sat in their seats holding each others hands underneath the table enjoying chatting with their two very good yet tired friends.

Jenna looked across the table at the two of them and smiled. "I really didn't realize how much I would miss talking with adults after only a week." She smiled tiredly at them.

As if on cue a crying Ryan broke through the conversation. His parent's faces fell as they looked at each other. Jenna sucked in a breath. "I guess this mean's I'm up now."

Before she could lift her tired body out of her chair Miley had stood up and put a hand on her arm. "You sit this one out…I'll call you if I need backup." She said with a smile on her face as she went to check on the distraught baby.

Jake watched her leave loving her even more for her amazing heart.

Jenna reached across the table and grabbed Jake's hand. "I'm glad to finally see you happy." She said softly with tears almost in her eyes.

Jake squeezed it back. "Me too."

Jake stared off down the hallway that Miley had walked through.

"I uh…I think I'll go and check on her and make sure your son isn't stealing my date." Jake said leaving his tired but happy friends to their dinner.

As he walked down the hallway he heard her singing. It was soft and sweet and completely beautiful. He hadn't heard her voice in person since they were kids. It had only grown up with her. He couldn't explain how much he had missed hearing her sing. Whenever he had heard songs he liked or that had meaning to him he had always thought of her. Because to him she was the embodiment of music…. it was what made her heart beat differently than everyone else's.

He listened reverently. Her soft tones were filled with emotion and love as she sung the newborn to sleep. The lyrics of the lullaby she sang seemed to whisper straight to his heart. (A/N I'd highly recommend going to you tube and finding Katheryn McPhee's version of Somewhere over the rainbow while reading the next part…and turn it down so it sounds like someone singing a lullaby)

_When all the clouds darken up the skyway,  
There__'s a rainbow highway to be found,  
Leading from your window pane,_

_To a place behind the sound,  
Just a step beyond the rain..._

Somewhere over the rainbow,  
Way up high,  
There's a land That I heard of once, in a lullaby

He arrived at the door and leaned against it just watching her. The room was aglow with the soft light of a baby's nightlight. She had taken her hair down from its more formal position and her soft curls hung around her face swept over one shoulder. She was holding Ryan up against her swaying slightly singing only to him. To him no one in history had ever been more beautiful.

The past few days with Miley had felt as if she had saved him. She had taken him from a life where work was the only thing he had to one where he could imagine almost anything as long as she was with him. He knew that beyond any fluttering in his stomach or goosebumps on his skin that this was what love really was. It was something that made you believe in things beyond yourself and he had never and would never feel this way about anyone but her.

_  
Somewhere over the rainbow skie__s are blue  
And the dreams,  
The dreams, that you dare to dream,  
Really do come true,  
_

His heart ached for her as he watched her. There in the smallest room in the house was everything that Jake had ever dared to dream for. He didn't want more acclaim or more money. He couldn't care less if people stopped recognizing him on the street. He'd give everything he had if he could just have this. The woman he loved with his entire soul and the beginnings of a family.

_  
Some day I'll wish upon a star  
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me,  
Where troubles melt like lemon drops,  
A way above the chimney tops,  
Thats where you'll find me,_

Somewhere, over the rainbow, bluebirds fly  
Birds fly, over the rainbow, then why..  
Then oh why.. can_'t I_

_  
If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow..  
Why, Oh, Why cant I?_

Miley kissed Ryan's tiny forehead and laid him down in the crib where he was sleeping soundly.

She turned around to find a very handsome and very serious looking Jake Ryan leaning against the doorway with his hands in his pockets. She smiled at him.

When he didn't smile back at her she went up to him and put her hands on his chest. "What?" She asked softly looking up into his eyes.

When she looked at him like that it was as if her eyes sparkled with happiness. Jake looked back and opened his mouth but he couldn't find words for how much he loved her at the moment. He felt trapped…like if he didn't tell her exactly how he felt he'd regret it for the rest of his life.

Miley noted the change in his eyes. They were strong and soft with a hint of desperation behind them. She needed to know what would do this to her Jake…her rock.

"What is it? You can tell me anything…you know that right?" Miley whispered feeling somewhat fearful of what he might say.

Jake leaned down and placed his forehead on hers never breaking eye contact. He brought his right hand up and tucked a loose curl behind her ear. Then in barely a whisper he did it.

Not a question, not a demand…a wish.

"Marry Me."

**Well? What did you think? I want honest opinions. **

**Only one or two more chaps to go. I hope you enjoyed. Also check out the little oneshot that I wrote called Someday. Again Jiley. **


	28. Chapter 27

**Hey Guys- Sorry it took so long for me to post but I was having reverse writers block….I had so many ideas of how to go from here that I didn't know which to use. This isn't quite the end but it is definitely winding down for now. I think I need a break from this story soon so even if I do some sort of sequel it won't be for awhile. Anyway I need to give you all a big THANK YOU for all the reviews. They were amazing. I'm really happy you all enjoyed the last chapter…it was one of my favorites to write. Anyway you gave me 27 reviews for that last chapter which is by FAR the most I've ever gotten for a single chapter. Y'all ROCK. Enjoy!**

_He felt trapped…like if he didn't tell her exactly how he felt he'd regret it for the rest of his life. _

_Miley noted the change in his eyes. They were strong and soft with a hint of desperation behind them. She needed to know what would do this to her Jake…her rock. _

"_What is it? You can tell me anything…you know that right?" Miley whispered feeling somewhat fearful of what he might say._

_Jake leaned down and placed his forehead on hers never breaking eye contact. He brought his right hand up and tucked a loose curl behind her ear. Then in barely a whisper he did it. _

_Not a question, not a demand…a wish._

"_Marry Me." _

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Miley looked at Jake a sense of shock and amazement running through her. Her fingers were tingling against Jake's chest. She was breathing hard searching his eyes for something, anything that would tell her that she wasn't imagining it that Jake….her Jake….had just asked her the question her heart had been aching to hear her entire life.

Her mind was racing so quickly that she couldn't tell if she had imagined it up or not. As her eyes searched his she found her voice again. "Say that again?" She got out quietly not believing this was happening.

Jake looked into the eyes he loved more than anything and smiled. He needed her to be his. He took her hand in his. Feeling her fingers automatically entwine with his his heart and confidence soared. His eyes shined down at the beautiful woman in front of him. "You heard me." He said his forehead still against hers and his mouth drawn up in a slight smirk.

Miley had heard him. Her mind began racing. Those words….she had dreamed of him saying those fantastic words since she was 13 and here she was in front of him…the most incredible…most romantic…most perfect man she had ever met and he was asking HER….to marry him. Her heart was banging against her chest.

She closed her eyes never relinquishing her hold on Jake's hand. She felt him rubbing his thumb over the top of her hand and she could feel the goosebumps erupting along her forearms.

Things were happening so fast. She and Jake had just gotten together. Could they do this? Could they be together….forever?

Miley opened her eyes and found Jake's waiting to find hers.

Jake looked in her eyes and recognized the emotions swimming through those crystal blue eyes. She had given him the same look when he asked her to be more than friends when they were 14. He knew in her heart that she wanted them to be together just as much as he did but there was the other side of her that was still scared of having her heart broken.

"Miley." He whispered huskily. He bent down and kissed her passionately.

He released her head slowly pulling his back a few inches from hers. "I have loved you since the moment you first insulted me in middle school."

Miley smiled and laughed slightly still feeling tears forming under her lidded eyes.

"And in my entire life I have only ever been in love with you." Jake stated kissing her on the cheek and forehead.

Cupping her face gently with one of his hands he felt his heart racing. He had wanted to tell her exactly what she had meant to him since the moment he saw her again and now he knew she needed to hear it.

He stroked her cheek lightly and spoke softly "I know… I don't deserve you. I don't deserve a second chance. I was so stupid to have EVER let you go. But that day…that terrible day that we broke up I lost everything that made my life good and meaningful."

"And I have spent 10 years throwing myself into the lives of characters because being myself without you….just wasn't worth it anymore." Jake said feeling tears welling up in his eyes.

Tears were already streaming down Miley's cheeks. She went to him wrapping her arms around him and wiping away the tear that had fallen across his beautiful face. She brought her face closer to his. "You never lost me." She whispered wanting to take away the pain he had felt.

Jake shook his head holding onto her as tightly as he could. "I was nothing without you." He said finding her gorgeous eyes once again.

Jake breathed deeply and continued. "And the worst of it was that I didn't have the courage to come and find you myself. You meant so much to me….but I was so terrified that you wouldn't need me that…."

Jake had to stop talking.

"I had to have my best friend force us together again to realize what I had done to myself." Jake said with sadness and self hate in his voice. Miley tightened her arms around Jake's waist not being able to bear the pain he was feeling. She had felt it too. She had never gone to find him. She had told herself that she was over him. She had lied to herself for years trying to find peace without him. And it hadn't worked.

It was then that she realized she would never be complete without Jake in her life. She needed him….she needed this incredible closeness the rest of her life.

Jake looked at Miley again and felt the realization of what it would have been like never to have seen her again hit him like a truck. He could barely breathe.

"And…And if Kevin hadn't butted in and messed around with my personal life I would never have seen you again." He said looking at what he could have lost.

Miley was hugging him tightly now. "We were both wrong Jake. It wasn't just you." Miley said in between tears.

Jake took a deep breath resigning himself. He held Miley out at arms length. "I was so wrong not to come and find you…not to tell you every minute of every day how much I missed you and how I NEVER stopped loving you."

Miley looked at Jake and saw the desperation in his eyes. She knew he meant every word he was saying.

He stepped closer and tilted his head down towards hers. "And that's why I don't want to wait anymore. I've waited 10 years to find love…to find you again and I don't want to spend another second of my life without you in it." Searching her eyes he finished. "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on and everyday that we're together I find myself falling even more desperately in love with you than I was before." Jake finished stroking Miley's cheek and breathing heavily.

Then finding his smile again Jake smirked. "And you know I'm hard to get rid of so if you turn me down now I'll just keep asking until you say yes."

Miley smiled widely and wiped away the tears that had fallen to her cheeks.

Jake took her hand and looked at her with all the love he had. "Marry Me."

Miley put her hand to her chest trying to keep her heart from beating uncontrollably.

Jake was looking at her with fear of rejection and excitement written in his face. She wanted to tell him how she had always been his, how they had both been stupid and foolish to let each other go, and how this past week had been like someone had breathed new life into her soul. But seeing the desperation in his eyes begging her to answer she realized she didn't need to say any of that. There was only one thing she needed to tell him.

Holding his gaze with hers, tears still in her eyes she whispered her answer.

"Yes." She said smiling widely her eyes sparkling with tears and unbridled happiness.

Jake took her in his arms in hugging her tightly lifting her off the ground and turning her around on nothing but pure relief that she had actually said yes. Miley's smile kept growing, the happiness she was feeling radiating around her. The minute Miley's feet touched the ground Jake kissed her. Miley melted into him feeling him kiss her everywhere.

Miley pulled back and smiled broadly still with tears in her eyes. She laughed softly knowing that this was the best decision she had ever made. Knowing that Jake felt the same she jokingly asked "Are you sure about this?"

Jake kissed the top of her forehead wrapping his arms around the woman who had been destined to be his. "Miley….I'm not sure of anything BUT this." He answered smiling just as widely.

She hugged him and found comfort in feeling her heart pounding against her chest knowing that her heart and her mind were finally on the same page. She had found the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with and she'd never let him go.

**READ AND REVIEW!!!!!**

**And it's not quite over yet….so stay with me just a little longer!**


	29. Chapter 28

**Hey guys-**

**For all of you who have stuck with me thus far here is a really long one. ENJOY! But if you enjoy make sure you REVIEW!!!!! **

A few minutes later Miley heard someone washing dishes in the Kitchen and she realized where she and Jake were. She pulled herself away from him kissing him for the briefest of moments.

Jake looked at her as if she had grown another head. "Where on earth do you think you're going? You're not done kissing your husband yet!" He said with mock indignation.

Miley laughed and kissed him again. How could she not when he called himself her husband. Before they got too caught up Miley pulled away again and smiled.

"Come on Jake lets go tell them the good news!" Miley said taking Jake by the hand and pulling him towards the door.

For an instant she saw Jake smiling back at her with as much excitement as she felt. Then all of a sudden it was like trying to pull a boulder along with her. Jake had completely stopped moving towards the door.

He had his hand in his hair again which meant he was nervous about something.

"So by them….who do you mean exactly?" Jake said looking at her out of the corner of his eyes and raising his eyebrows.

Miley looked back at Jake slightly confused. She laughed a little nervously. "Come on Jake. You know exactly who I mean….OUR friends…Jenna and Kevin? The people who's house this is?"

Jake was still messing with his hair. This wasn't a good sign.

"Yeah. About that. I think telling Jenna is a great idea and I'm behind you 100 on that one…but..uh…about Kevin. Why don't we you know…wait awhile before telling him." Jake said looking flushed.

Miley laughed a little more noticing Jake's discomfort. She walked up to him and felt the first pangs of fear entering her heart. Was he ashamed? "Come on Jake. What's the problem? Don't you want people to know about us? " Miley asked pointing in between them.

Jake's eyes widened in horror. "WHAT? Oh God Miley No! It's not like that at all. I'd go on live tv and shout it as loud as I could that you agreed to Marry me. I've never been more excited about anything in my entire life. It's just that….well…. when Kevin finds out that he… got me the girl of my dreams…I'm going to owe him BIG TIME." Jake said with his eyes wide looking at his shoes.

Miley laughed feeling relieved that he wasn't having second thoughts. "Come on Jake it won't be that bad."

"Miles…I love you desperately but you have NO idea what you're talking about. I mean just think about it…BEFORE he got me the girl I've been in love with forever he had no problems messing with my life…I mean he moved us both half way across the world, and had us sign BINDING legal contracts just so we'd be stuck with each other! What do you think it'll be like NOW when I owe him EVERYTHING!" Jake said sitting down on the child size Giraffe chair next to the crib.

Miley thought quietly that he might have a point. She had done her share of meddling in her friend's lives but she had never gone as far as Kevin had in getting them back together. Secretly she admired his work.

She looked over at Jake in the Giraffe chair who was now feeling around his stomach area looking concerned.

Miley shook her head with amused wonder. "What on earth are you doing?"

"I'm trying to commit to memory what it feels like to have all of my organs before Kevin decides he needs them!" He said half sarcastically half completely serious.

Miley laughed again. She loved his sense of humor. It was dorky but ridiculously cute.

She sighed heavily and took his hand helping him out of the giraffe chair. "Did you really learn nothing from me in high school?" Miley asked shaking her head in mock disappointment. "Meddling is an ART. And the only thing that keeps a meddler from meddling is fear. So all you have to do is convince Kevin that you're just as capable of messing around with his emotions and he'll have to at least back off a bit."

Jake looked at her a smile growing wider and wider across his face. He picked her up and kissed her. "I knew you were too beautiful not to be just a little bit evil!"

Jake walked over to the small desk and wrote something down on a piece of paper. He then went back to Miley and gave her a little kiss on the cheek.

He went tot the door and looked back at her. "Just stay out of sight for awhile. I think I'm going to enjoy this." He said with a wink leaving her to the nursery as he went to find Kevin. (A/N for the next part Miley and Jenna's conversation is in italics…Jake and Kevin in regular font)

Luckily for him Jake didn't have to go very far. Kevin was sprawled out on one of the oversized chairs they had in their living room.

Jake stopped and took a moment to compose himself before going in. He took a deep breath and entered the room prepared for the acting performance of a lifetime.

Kevin raised his head a little when he noticed Jake entering the room. He didn't quite open his eyes though. "You two were gone long enough." Kevin said his eyes still closed but with a big smirk on his face.

_Miley had come out of the nursery and was hiding in the hallway just out of sight. She looked at Jake and wiped away a fake tear. Her Jake was growing up and going to mess with people's emotions…she was SO proud! _

Jake's tone was totally different than Kevin had expected. "I DON"T want to talk about it!" Jake said plopping down on the couch with his head in his hands.

Kevin sat up and opened his eyes. Before him Jake seemed…..broken.

"What's wrong?" Kevin asked concern written clearly in his face.

Jake stood up not being able to look Kevin in the eyes. "I blew it ok? That's what's wrong!" He said standing up pacing back and forth and running his hands through his hair.

_Miley thus far was impressed. He had clearly thrown himself into the character. She just hoped he had the stamina for such a complex prank. _

"What do you mean you blew it?…You guys seemed fine…actually more than fine a few minutes ago….how did you screw it up so quickly?" Kevin asked incredulously.

Jake gave Kevin a death glare and then seemed to get angry. "You want to know how I blew it?….Well I'll tell you!" He said trying but not succeeding at keeping his voice down.

"I proposed." Jake whispered, all the anger gone completely replaced by fear and desperate sadness.

Kevin looked like someone had just punched him in the gut. He was holding his stomach and his mouth was hanging open with nothing coming out of it.

"Proposed what?" Kevin finally asked clearly hoping he had misunderstood his friend.

_Jake looked almost livid, Miley didn't know he had this type of performance in him. _

"Marriage of course! What do you think I proposed?" Jake shot back at Kevin clearly enraged.

Kevin blinked his eyes and shook his head as if trying to wake himself up from a bad dream.

_Jenna had come up behind Miley noticing her intent gaze on the two men in the living room. Ducking down beside her she asked "So what are we watching here?" with a small glint in her eyes. Miley smiled back at the woman she had come to love as a dear friend. _

"_Jake's trying to get back at Kevin for meddling with his personal life…wanna watch…it's actually really good!" She said brining her eyes back to the scene in the livingroom. _

"_Is he gonna make Kevin squirm?" Jenna asked quietly. _

_Miley nodded with the slight evil glint in her eyes "Oh yeah." Jenna sat down beside her. "I'm in!"_

Kevin stood up and started pacing with Jake. "So let me get this straight. After about a week of dating you have the nerve to propose to Miley….and she turned you down?" Kevin asked still not believing things had progressed so quickly between them.

Jake sat down in the chair and put his head in his hands. "That just about sums it up now doesn't it?" Jake said talking to his shoes looking completely desperate.

Kevin sat down speechless.

_Jenna's eyes were wide. "Is that true? He proposed and you turned him down?"_

_Miley smiled a real smile now and bit her lip turning to her good friend. "Yes he proposed…but I definitely didn't say no." She said biting even harder on her lip to keep herself from smiling too broadly. _

_Jenna hugged Miley as hard as she possibly could. "Congratulations! I'm so happy for both of you!" She whispered excitedly to Miley._

_Miley looked back at Jenna and saw tears in her eyes and suddenly her eyes had tears too. She shook her head. "We can't get all sappy yet….that's what the wedding is for!" She said as both women wiped their eyes. _

_Jenna looked back at her. "Yeah. You're right. We should just watch them." She said pointing back at Jake and Kevin. "This never happened right?" _

"_Right." Miley said still with tears in her eyes hugging Jenna once more and feeling wonderful at the prospect of being engaged all over again. _

It was Jake that brought the two out of their personal reverie. He had apparently broken the silence that he and Kevin were sharing after he told him that Miley had turned him down. Miley and Jenna now watched them both with their undivided attention.

"I just don't know what happened! It was all going so well. I went to see her with the baby and I don't know…. it just hit me. I knew I had to ask her. So I did." Jake began explaining sadness pervading his entire body.

"And she seemed really excited. But….but then I decided I had to tell her everything and it was all down hill from there." Jake said putting his hands on his forehead and looking completely desperate.

Kevin looked confused. "What do you mean you had to tell her everything?"

Jake sighed sadly and looked at Kevin.

_Miley couldn't tell but it looked like he had tears in his eyes. Man he really is good!_

"I mean I told her EVERYTHING! How I was a coward for not coming to find her and how I had to wait until my best friend decided to try and get us together by putting us in a romantic movie together." Jake said flailing his arms about.

"That's basically when she lost it." He said pacing again and shaking his head around.

"She obviously hadn't figured out that the movie had been a clever setup and she said that she didn't know if she could trust me or anything anymore! She even was questioning her feelings for Mark again since she considered everything else I've told her to be a complete and utter lie!" Jake said again thrusting his hands in the air and moving about the room in random directions.

He suddenly stopped and just looked out the window.

_Jenna's jaw dropped. She looked at Miley. "Did he just manage to make it sound like you dumping him was Kevin's fault for setting you guys up?" _

_Miley was in awe. "Yep." _

_Jenna smiled deviously and laughed softly. "That was seriously brilliant." Miley could only nod. She hadn't thought that anyone could pull something like this off without laughing once. Jake was more much more of an amazing actor than she had ever given him credit for. _

Kevin was looking at Jake with pain and disappointment written all over his face. He stood up slowly and went to approach Jake who was busy looking out the window. He placed his hand as lightly as he could on Jake's shoulder. "I'm …..I'm so sorry Jake. I should have told her you would be in the movie in the first place. It's all my fault."

Jake just turned and looked at Kevin directly. In the saddest voice Miley had ever heard he answered. "It doesn't matter anymore…..none of it matters anymore."

Jake sighed and took a deep breath as if collecting himself. "I….I think I'm going to see if I can take her home yet. She wanted me to give this to you and Jenna…you know so she wouldn't have to say her goodbye's." Jake finished as he handed Kevin the piece of paper and started walking away.

Kevin took the paper and looked back at his friend. "Jake come on…we'll fix it!"

Jake cut him off and looked at him as if there was nothing else left to live for. "It doesn't matter anymore." He said softly and walked away towards the hallway. When he was beyond Kevin's view…..he smiled.

_Jenna was waiting for Jake at her and Miley's hiding place. As soon as he reached them she kissed him on the cheek and hugged him frantically. "I'm soooo happy for the both of you!" "And THAT" She said pointing to where he and Kevin had just been…."was the best performance I have ever seen in my life!" She started laughing. "He totally deserved it though." Jake and Miley laughed quietly with her, Jake still hugging Jenna and taking Miley's hand with his free arm. _

Kevin looked at the folded paper and sat on the couch feeling completely and utterly empty. He put his head in his hands and couldn't believe how much damage he had done to Jake's life. Sure before all this he wasn't living life to its full potential but the guy had still had hope. Now it didn't seem as if Jake had anything….and it was all his fault. He felt terrible.

He looked down at the paper and slowly unfolded it. There were only 4 words on it.

"GOTCHA. She said YES!"

He dropped the piece of paper as if it were on fire his mouth wide with shock. "What? Are you???? What??? JAKE!!!!!!"

Jake, Jenna and Miley laughed heartily at the sound of Kevin's yelling and came out from down the hallway. Jake and Miley came out holding hands and smiling widely. Jenna was also smiling but shaking her head at her husband.

"YOU! And you!" Kevin said pointing first at Jake and then at Jenna who was obviously laughing at him too. "You knew about this?"

Jenna just smiled and went up to her husband and wrapped her arms around his neck. "It's ok Honey. You've learned your lesson right? You're not going to use movies anymore as a way to set people up on dates anymore right?" She said as if talking to a small child.

Kevin seemed to be regaining his faculties. He looked at Jake and Miley and his wife in front of him, a smile creeping across his face. "Fine…I won't use movies anymore to set people up on dates!" he said as he hugged Jenna.

Looking at Jake over her shoulder he winked. "It sure did work though didn't it?"

Jake looked at Miley and pulled her too him. He winked back at Kevin. "It sure did." He said as he bent down and kissed his incredible fiancé. He looked up again and nodded at Kevin. "And just so you know…Thanks." He said smiling as he held Miley close to him.

Kevin looked at Jenna in his arms and Jake and Miley holding each other tightly and knew it had all been worth it. "It was my pleasure." Kevin said kissing the top of his beautiful wife's head knowing that Jake could now be almost as happy as he was. He couldn't help but feeling that things were good now….really really good!

**READ AND REVIEW!!!!! PLEASE????**

**I know it was silly but the last two chapter were SO fluffy that I needed something different. And actually the bit about Miley saying now was a possibility for the last chapter but I decided against it and thought this would be a different way of putting it in there. Anyway let me know what you think!**


	30. Chapter 29

**Hey Guys-**

**Well here's the second to last chapter. I've finally decided how to end it and it's almost done. I should be able to post soon. So read and review….it's kinda filler but I felt we needed it. **

**THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS AND SUPPORT!**

Miley and Jake were in their living room. Miley smiled at the thought of it being theirs. Jake had carried her over the threshold when he brought her home after finding Lilly and Oliver to tell them the news. She couldn't stop laughing. He had also decided to carry her into their car and out of it. It was like his new favorite game. Not that she was complaining.

Since then they had been on the phone calling everyone they knew. They had talked to Jake's parents, his sister, and they had just gotten off the phone with Jackson. Miley had been worried about the shock of hearing that she had dumped Mark and was now getting married to Jake but apparently her best friends had big mouths. Lilly had talked to Jackson and told him about Jake so it hadn't been too much of a shock. Jackson had given Jake the obligatory big brother talk about making him disappear if he hurt her again but in the end he had been happy for the both of them.

That left one more person who they needed to tell. Miley had been avoiding this phone call all night. She didn't know what she was going to tell her dad. What scared her most though was that she had no idea how he would react.

Jake looked at his fiancé her beautiful eyes filled with worry. "We're going to have to tell him sometime you know." He said gently rubbing her back.

Miley leaned her head on Jake's shoulder. She looked at him and sadly nodded.

'If you want I can talk to him. You know sorta ask for permission?" Jake said trying to bring some sort of life back to her gorgeous face.

Miley stood up and shook her head. "No. I mean that's sweet and all but I need to tell him THIS myself."

Jake just nodded in response.

Miley took a deep breath and started pacing. "So what should I say? Hey Dad….I'm getting married…oh no…not to Mark." "Remember Mark? Yeah. Well I don't. I'm marrying Jake!"

Jake smirked at that one. He personally liked the sound of the second one.

He stood up and put his arms around Miley's tiny waist. "He'll understand. If not now he will eventually." Jake said seriously.

Miley took her phone out of Jake's hands and breathed deeply. "Alright Mr. Movie Star. I'll call."

She dialed.

"Daddy?"

"Darlin? Is that you? It's been so long. How's the movie going?"

Miley laughed nervously. "Yeah dad. It's me. The movie is good…but that's not what I'm calling about."

"Miles is everything ok?" Robbie Rae asked the concern obvious in his voice.

Miley turned and looked at Jake. He took her free hand in his.

Miley smiled. "Yeah dad. Everything is great….actually it's…wonderful." She finished smiling at her fiancé.

Jake smiled at her wishing that he could kiss her for how adorable she sounded when talking about how she felt right now.

Miley took a breath and continued. "Daddy. I have something to tell you…and I'm not quite sure how you're going to take it. But… I know it's the best thing that's ever happened to me….I'm engaged…to Jake."

Silence.

"Daddy?"

His voice was cold. "I heard you darling. Is uh….is Jake there? I'd like to talk to him."

Miley's body was stiff. Her heart was breaking. She loved Jake more than anything but hearing the empty emotion in her father's voice was making her question everything. She needed her family. She needed Jake. She knew she wouldn't give him up even if her father asked her but she couldn't bear to think of him not approving of her or her life either. It was unthinkable.

Miley held out the phone and her eyes darted to the floor. "He'd like to talk to you."

For Jake there had been no mistaking Miley's body language. Her father had not been excited about the news. Jake nodded resigning himself to talking to one of the people he admired most on the planet and hearing…disapproval.

"Hello Mr. Stewart." Jake said in a serious tone that Miley hadn't heard from him since they had gotten together. He seemed much older in that moment.

Miley was biting her fingernails and sitting on the couch watching Jake. Her leg was shaking uncontrollably.

Jake looked at Miley and knew he needed some space for this. He made his way out into the garden.

"Jake?? What on earth are you thinking?" Mr. Stewart nearly yelled.

"Mr. Stewart…" Jake started but was interrupted.

"How long has this been going on between you two? She was with Mark 2 weeks ago Jake….2 weeks! How is it possible that you think you two are ready to be married after 2 WEEKS!"

"Mr. Stewart…."

"No. You listen to me son. This is completely irresponsible! You have absolutely no right Jake!"

Jake couldn't handle this. He wasn't some teenager anymore who could be scared by an overprotective father.

"STOP!" He yelled. Jake chided himself for loosing his cool. He took a deep breath.

"Mr. Stewart….I know I've screwed up in the past. But asking Miley to Marry me wasn't a mistake…. and nothing you can say will make me change my mind about it." He said as coolly as he could.

Jake could hear Mr. Stewart trying to take a deep breath on the other end of the line.

"You left her Jake." Robbie replied in his cold harsh tone.

Jake's heart broke again. He knew that was the problem the moment he picked up the phone. He knew that Mr. Stewart might never forgive him for breaking her heart no matter what Miley thought.

There was only one thing to do. He had to tell him the truth…and hope to God that it was enough. Jake breathed deeply. "NO ONE has regretted that decision more than ME Robbie." Jake replied hating himself again.

Robbie took a second clearly thinking about the entire situation before responding. "Son I'd like to forgive you …but that doesn't change what you did to her." Robbie said with caring and hurt in his voice.

Jake ruffled his hair with his hand.

He sighed feeling depressed. He had already had to apologize to Miley tonight about all of this he didn't need to relive it again. "You're absolutely right sir. And I stayed away from her for 10 years because I knew that I didn't deserve her….I will never deserve her! But that doesn't change the fact that I love her…or that for some unknown reason she loves me." Jake replied his voice breaking.

Jake sighed. "Mr. Stewart if anyone could understand this..." Jake paused his voice getting softer and more collected. "You lost the love of your life. If…if you were given a second chance wouldn't you take it?" Jake replied softly. He found a seat on the bench in the garden and looked at his shoes. Getting no reply he continued. "I will spend every second of my life trying to make her as unbelievably happy as I possibly can." Jake told Mr. Stewart as truthfully as he could.

Jake knew he couldn't take what had happened back but he didn't want to keep living his life paying for his mistakes…he needed to move forward.

Jake waited for more yelling…for more berating…for more…anything.

And yet there was only….Silence.

"Give me back to my daughter please." Was Robbie's still cold and unfeeling response.

Jake sighed and walked back into the living room. He somberly handed the phone to Miley feeling lost. He had been so happy an hour ago but now everything he had dreamed of seemed hazy.

"He'd like to talk to you." Jake said with aggravation and sadness in his eyes.

Miley picked up the phone with apprehension apparent throughout her entire body.

"Daddy?" Miley asked nervously.

Jake looked around the house that was supposed to be theirs. He couldn't imagine losing her now. He just couldn't.

Suddenly an excited squeal come out of Miley's mouth.

"Thank you sooooo much daddy!" Miley said as the happiness flooded back to her face.

"Oh course! We'll see you soon! I love you Daddy."

"Alright bye!"

Miley shut the phone and ran to Jake's arms and kissed him like there was no tomorrow. When Jake could barely breathe he extended his arms and looked at his fiancé clearly confused. 'What did he say?"

Miley broke into a huge smile. "He said…..Congratulations!"

Seeing the smile grow across Jake's face Miley kissed him again this time much more slowly.

Miley broke the kiss. "There's only one condition though." She said with her eyes shy and biting her lower lip.

Jake's pulse sped up. He had never been able to say no to anything she wanted and clearly that trend wasn't stopping anytime soon. He needed her too much.

"What is that?"

"Well it would mean that we put off our trip." Miley said running her finger along Jake's chest seductively. "But…I was thinking that might be a better honeymoon anyway." Miley said kissing him lightly on the neck where she was whispering.

Jake's breathing was speeding up along with his heart rate.

"He wants us to come home."

Relief swept over Jake like a rolling wave. If that was all he wanted…he would gladly give it to him.

Jake bent his head down so that his mouth was near Miley's ear and whispered. "Anything for you."

Jake took his fiancé back into his arms so that he was carrying her once again. He looked at her again and felt all the happiness he had been feeling that night flooding back into his heart. He smiled at the love of his life and carried her once again….this time to their bedroom. Miley laughed again and looked at her fiancé….grinning like an idiot.

She had never been so happy.

**READ AND REVIEW!!!! ONLY one more left!!!!!!!**


	31. Chapter 30

**Hey There-**

**Well sadly for me this is the last chapter. I really hope you've enjoyed it and I hope you review this last chapter and the story as a whole at the end. There really are far too many of you to thank individually for all your continual reviews and support. I would never have done this without you so thank you for reading. Without further ado….**

Miley and Jake had gone home. They had gone back to Malibu where they had met and first fallen in love. Leaving Paris had been hard but they both knew they'd be going back. Miley agreed with Jake…the house Jake had bought would be a perfect place to bring a family….someday.

And now…now Miley was really home…home where her journey to becoming Hannah…to becoming Miley had really begun.

She was back in Tennessee.

When they had returned to Malibu they had both thought long and hard about when and where they should get married. They had considered staying in Malibu and having a big celebrity wedding. That thought had lasted….well…. a few microseconds.

Both Miley and Jake wanted to keep being a celebrity as something they did….not as who they were. And so Miley had asked Jake if they could have their wedding in her home…where her Mother had loved her…and where her enormous family still lived.

Jake would have had the wedding on the moon if it meant that Miley would walk down the isle to him so of course his answer has been yes.

And here she was…in Tennessee….on her wedding day.

Everyone she cared about was going to be there today. She and Jake had found a spot overlooking the beautiful smoky Mountains to get married. It was a quiet hillside with a breathtaking view of the Mountains. Being late October the leaves of the trees were burning with color. They had found a farmhouse nearby that had been turned into a quaint hotel and had rented the entire place for them and their friends for the entire week.

The couple hadn't wanted to try and cram spending quality time with their friends and family into a few hours at their reception. So instead they offered everyone a week of being together as their wedding gift to the people they cared about most.

And they had all come to be with them. Lilly and Oliver, Jenna and Kevin, Jackson and his wife Sarah, and both their parents had been there the entire time. It had been one of the best and most relaxing weeks of their lives. They had gone hiking, fishing, and kayaking. Miley had even gotten Jake to try hoseback riding. She laughed just thinking of his expression that evening when he asked her if she could amputate his legs to make the pain go away.

It didn't matter though that her city slicker fiancé didn't love everything she liked to do…it just mattered that they were trying things and doing them together. The evenings had been Miley's favorite part of their vacation. The group would gather in the cool crisp autumn air around a big bonfire near the farmhouse for dinner. There were blankets everywhere and the couples would inevitably wrap themselves in them enjoying being close to each other and having fun with their friends.

Someone would always be playing the guitar and all the talented people in the group took turns singing some of their favorite music. All the tunes were soft with a playful country twang paying homage to where they were and how they were all feeling being away from the hustle of Los Angeles life. It was perfect. And tonight would be the last night everyone would be together. Tonight was the night that Miley and Jake would be married.

The wedding was going to be simple. There weren't going to be tons of decorations since the leaves were changing and there would be no competing with natural beauty on a day like today. They also realized that they didn't need tons of fanfare to tell each other they were in love, they just needed their family and friends.

And after all Miley was still a country girl at heart. So getting married here was really the only place in the world that it would feel right.

The wedding was going to be at sunset giving Miley and Jake the chance to spend their day together. Everyone else would have to wait.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Miley woke up early and prodded Jake until he showed signs of life. He smiled at her and grabbed her pulling her back in towards him as if she were a life sized teddy bear that he never wanted to let go. Miley smiled loving how it felt to be drawn up so close to him.

"Come on…I want to go and look at our spot….before everything gets too crazy." Miley begged him before getting out of bed and throwing on her clothes.

Jake watched this smugly enjoying the view of his soon to be wife changing in front of him. Miley noticed her admirer and promptly threw a pillow at him. "Get up." She commanded with a smile.

Jake smiled and got himself out of bed. "Gosh…we're not even married yet and you're bossing me around." He said with a smirk.

Miley turned and grabbed him by the collared shirt that he had just thrown on and was starting to button. She brought her face millimeters away from his. "And don't even pretend that you're not enjoying every minute of it." She said with a seductive glimmer in her eyes.

Miley then leaned in and kissed him as softly as she possibly could just tasting his lips. 

Jake could only look at her in awe. "God I love you." He whispered huskily having every intention of wrestling her back to bed.

Miley shifted gears immediately. "Good….now get Dressed!"

Jake smiled and looked at his fiancé out of the corner of his eyes. He had no idea what he had done in his past lives to be this lucky. But he wasn't going to look a gift pop star in the mouth.

Jake and Miley stepped out into the cold brisk air of the early autumn morning. Miley was so excited that today they would be together forever. She wanted to look at their spot…the spot they would be married before everyone else. She wanted to hold him there and just let it sink in. So that's what they did. They walked to the spot on the hillside where they would tell each other that they would be together forever and just held each other silently.

Miley couldn't imagine anything better for her wedding day. She had everything she could possibly want….she was in the place that felt most like home in the entire world, she had her family….and she had Jake.

Miley closed her eyes and just enjoyed the feeling of his strong arms around her. She couldn't imagine all those thousands of brides who sequestered themselves away from their husbands on their special day only to reveal themselves at the ceremony. Not that she was completely above superstition…she wouldn't let him see the dress or anything but she loved that today the thing she would remember most….was him.

They spent the next few hours walking around the beautiful countryside and just being alone… together.

In the afternoon when it was time to get ready Lilly Miley and Jenna were treated like queens. Miley hadn't wanted anyone to fuss over her but of course Jake wouldn't have his wife doing anything herself on her wedding day. He had made sure each of the women had a masseuse and stylist to help them get ready and plates of food sent up so that they didn't get hungry.

It took all of them to get Miley into her dress but when she was ready she was stunning.

The three of them had gone shopping for the dress together after everyone had returned from Paris. It had taken a few days but they had found the right one. It was unique, elegant, and it fit Miley perfectly. The dress was sleeveless with a fitted waist bodice and a gorgeous skirt that flared delicately from her waist. The entire dress was ivory satin covered in white lace with tiny pearl beads along the bodice and sparingly along the skirt of the gown. Miley had her hair mostly down and wavy with part of the front pulled back out of her face. The only jewelry she wore were a pair of drop pearl earrings that had been her mothers that her dad had given her the night before. Beyond all that the thing that made Miley look so incredible was her smile. She was glowing… and it was infectious.

After a million little things had been taken care of it was time.

Miley took a breath and walked down the isle on her fathers arm the warm breeze and the bright color of the leaves nearly glowing in the sunset. She didn't remember much about the actual ceremony but she would always remember him. She wouldn't remember the gorgeous Armani suit that he wore or the designer shoes but she would remember the tears she saw in his gorgeous eyes as he saw her in the aisle and the look of utter devotion that he had given her as he slipped her wedding ring gently on her finger.

The ceremony went by far too quickly. Miley felt like she was back presenting her first Teenie not being able to concentrate on the words she was supposed to say when Jake was so close to her staring into her eyes and seeing nothing but her. It didn't matter though…she made it through. And with a kiss she was his. But her heart…her heart had always been his.

As they took their pictures everyone else gathered in the huge white tent on the soft grass for the reception. Miley had made sure that everything would be perfect for them inside. There were hundreds of hanging lanterns lighting paths to and from the farm house and into the tent area and thousands of candles when you entered. The flowers reflected the colors outside as an autumn glow seemed to have been brought underneath the canopy. The only thing Jake had insisted he be allowed to choose was their first song which Miley had begrudgingly given over to him. They had never really had one single song to call their own but Miley had faith in Jake. The rest of the music was already taken care of by musician friends of Miley's and even some of her family.

Suddenly the photos were taken and someone was ushering them towards the tent where they would be presented as man and wife. The sides of the tent had been closed so as to reveal the couple for the first time and so Miley wouldn't be able to peak at the contents of the tent before she was supposed to.

Jake leaned down and kissed his wife on the forehead. "I love you." He whispered softly so only she could hear despite the bustling of people getting everything ready.

It was maybe the millionth time he had told her that he loved her but the first time as husband and wife and it brought happy tears to Miley's eyes. He squeezed her hand and the two of them burst through the curtain to racous applause. Everyone was yelling and whistling and standing and clapping as loudly as they could…celebrating them.

Miley was overcome with it all. Jake had obviously made some arrangements of his own since everyone had sparklers in their hands waving them about as they made their way onto the dance floor.

Jake was leading the way. He had Miley by the hand and was walking through the crowd of people hugging them as they went until they were finally in the middle of the spotlights.

There was a stage already setup with a set of soft sheer white curtains covering the performers. The dance floor was aglow with candlelight.

Kevin came forward and handed Jake a microphone. Jake took Miley's hand in his and looked down at her. Then speaking into the mic for everyone to hear he made his announcement.

"I just wanted to thank everyone here for coming tonight. It's been the best day of my life and I can't tell you how great it makes both of us feel knowing we have so many family and friends who wanted to share this special day with us." Jake took a breath and looked at his wife who was beaming up at him and holding his hand still calm as a cucumber. He was now turned and looking only at Miley. "Miley." He said almost breathlessly and obviously nervous. "Today you have made me the happiest man alive and I knew that I would never be able to find the words to tell you exactly what you mean to me today. So I did what any man would do…and I decided to steal someone else's." Jake said with a smirk. "So without further ado….this song is for you." He said looking directly into her eyes.

Miley smiled knowing how sweet the man in front of her was. She couldn't wait to hear what he had chosen to represent their first song as man and wife. Jake had given the mic back to Kevin and was now turning back towards the stage where the sheer white curtains were slowly being lifted. As the players came into view Miley's jaw literally dropped.

Miley was stunned. There in front of her was one of her all time favorite bands and a constant inspiration for her music. She didn't quite believe her eyes. She leaned into Jake. "Is that….Rascal Flatts….at MY wedding?" Miley asked trying to keep her cool.

Jake just smiled and nodded. Miley's eyes got even wider. "Um….are you sure? Because the Rascal Flatts I know are Grammy winners! This couldn't be the same group of guys right?" Miley asked her fan status taking over her own celebrity.

Jake smiled at the shocked look on his wife's face. He knew he'd be spending lots of money over the next few years trying to bring that look of awestruck amazement to her face as much as possible. He loved it. He leaned his head down towards her ears. "So….do I get a few brownie points for this?"

Miley leaned back towards him still not taking her eyes off the group that was getting ready to start playing. "I….I…uh…I might even consider a get out of jail free card for this." She said still shocked.

Jake smiled and took his wife in his arms getting ready for the music to start playing around them.

Miley looked at Jake. Tonight she wasn't a Grammy winner herself…tonight she was just Miley a woman who was receiving one of the greatest gifts imaginable from the man she loved.

The lead singer Gary LeVox stepped to the front of the stage wearing an all black suit and bowed nodding at the couple on the dance floor.

The music started playing **(A/N Please do yourself a favor and go to YouTube and get Rascal Flatts The Day Before You for this next part…TRUST ME!) **

Miley only needed to hear the first few notes to know exactly which song Jake had chosen. She instantly felt tears in her eyes. They had danced to this once before. It was their first dance together on her porch in Malibu. It was just a song that had come on the radio the night they had finally gotten together in high school. Jake had asked her to dance. She had forgotten about the song, but she remembered the night perfectly. It was the night she realized that they really were no longer just friends…they had both moved past that without even realizing it.

I had all but given up  
On finding the one that I could fall into  
On the day before you

Miley was crying looking up at Jake and seeing the devotion in his eyes. She knew he was telling her exactly how he felt with the song.

I was ready to settle for  
Less than love and not much more  
There was no such thing as a dream come true  
Oh, but that was on the day before you

Miley couldn't imagine a more perfect song for them. They had both been lost and had found themselves again the day they got back together. She knew that she could never love a song more than she would love this one from this day forward. She laid her head down on Jake's shoulder and let the words he was telling her sink in.

Now you're here and everything's changing  
Suddenly life means so much  
I can't wait to wake up tomorrow  
And find out this promise is true  
I will never have to go back to  
The day before you 

She wanted to tell him what this meant to her, how he made her feel. She lifted her head and met his eyes. Her voice was soft and breaking with emotion. "Jake….I.." Jake just smiled at her knowing exactly what she was feeling and kissed her still swaying to the amazing music.

In your eyes I see forever  
It makes me wish that my life never knew  
The day before you  
Oh, but Heaven knows those years without you  
Were shapin' my heart for the day that I found you  
You're the reason for all that I've been through  
Then I'm thankful for the day before you-  
yeah, yeah

Their lips parted from one another. They danced in each others arms being contented just to stare into each others eyes and hold on tight. Jake broke his gaze and gave a nod to Kevin and Oliver. Soon their friends and family were joining them. 

Now you're here and everything's changing  
Suddenly life means so much  
I can't wait to wake up tomorrow  
And find out this promise is true  
I will never have to go back to  
The day before you

Was the last day that I ever lived alone  
And I'm never goin' back  
No, I'm never goin' back 

Miley looked around at the people around her. They were all people who loved her and Jake. Some were laughing while dancing, some where too wrapped up in the person they were holding but all of them were happy.

Now you're here and everything's changing  
Suddenly life means so much  
I can't wait to wake up tomorrow  
And find out this promise is true  
I will never have to go back to 

Miley thought of the troubled road that had led her here to be with Jake and knew that it had all been worth it. Her life was changing…and she couldn't imagine that it could possibly get any better than today. She looked up at Jake and saw the smirk and gleam in his eyes and knew that she was wrong. Her best days would be the one's that they'd share together….the one's yet to come.

Miley closed her eyes and placed her head on Jake's shoulder. She felt him gently stroking her long dark curls. And in that moment she wasn't a woman in her wedding dress, she was a young girl of 14 dancing on her fathers porch with the boy she knew she was destined to love for all eternity.

Yeah, I will never have to go back to  
The day before you, the day before you

**THE END**

**Hey Y'all-**

**Thanks for reading this enormous story for me. I really hope you enjoyed it. Please leave reviews telling me what you thought about the ending and the story as a whole. I don't know if I will do a sequel since I was going back and forth between having the wedding in this story or doing it as the sequel. So maybe it's time to move to a new story. Anyway if you've gone through and read this entire thing I give you all props but if you liked it at all I hope you leave a review (even you who have been silent readers until now…I mean really I didn't write 50,000 words just for me!). **

**Anyway Thanks again!**

**Much love**

**-Penguins **


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